Editorial: Democrats toy with shutting down the government

Las Vegas Review-Journal, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Sep 6, 2025

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It’s time for a return of the country’s least favorite reality TV show — shutdown theater.

To avoid a government shutdown, Congress must pass a spending bill before the end of the month. This might seem like a straightforward exercise because Republicans control both chambers of Congress. But a continuing resolution is subject to a Senate filibuster. Overcoming that hurdle requires 60 votes in the Senate. Republicans have only 53 votes in the upper chamber.

This gives Democrats leverage — or so they think. And their base wants a fight. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., raked in record campaign donations after his 25-hour Senate filibuster this spring. Good luck finding an average voter who even remembers what he was protesting. It didn’t stop President Donald Trump from successfully pushing forward his agenda. The border is closed. Trump has lowered crime in Washington, D.C. He even signed his big, beautiful bill into law.

But performative outrage temporarily scratches the left’s insatiable itch to oppose the president. The weather vane known as California Gov. Gavin Newsom has picked up on this desire. A few months ago, Gov. Newsom thought his path to higher office was civil conversations with his political opponents. Now, he has his press office posting in all-caps on X in an attempt to mock Trump. You can almost hear his desperation to attract Democratic primary voters.

The Democratic base seeks conflict. But the party’s leverage is fool’s gold. For one, government shutdowns don’t create a real crisis. Social Security checks will continue to go out. The military will continue to defend the country. The mail will continue to be delivered. During a 2013 shutdown, then-President Barack Obama barricaded the open-air World War II Memorial on the National Mall. It was a foolish attempt to show how painful shutting down the government was. It sent the opposite message.

Democrats’ bigger problem is political. The public wants to believe its leaders have enough competence to keep the lights on. That means government shutdowns aren’t popular — and the public blames the side that created the shutdown. If House Republicans pass a continuing resolution and Democrats successfully filibuster it, Democrats should bear the blame.

This is why Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer backed off in March during a similar scenario. His base reacted in fury, but it was smart politics. That’s especially true because a shutdown may give the Trump administration greater power to cut spending.

Entitlement spending remains America’s real fiscal crisis, but even shutting the government down won’t solve that problem.