Democrats risk shutdown blame game with government funding hardball– www.washingtonexaminer.com
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But it’s a risky calculation, given Senate Democrats are using filibuster leverage to block a largely “clean” stopgap spending measure unless enhanced Obamacare subsidies set to expire are extended. It’s an annual scenario where one party invokes leverage over must-pass legislation, but only this time, the usual party roles are reversed.
Democrats are betting that Americans will blame President Donald Trump and Republicans. Although Republicans control both chambers of Congress, they still require bipartisanship to overcome the 60-vote Senate threshold to pass a short-term funding bill. Unless more funding is approved, the federal government will shut down on Oct. 1.
“They who run the Legislative Branch usually get blamed in the eyes of voters when something goes awry or there’s a shutdown of any kind,” said Jon Reinish, a Democratic strategist and former aide to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who now chairs Senate Democrats’ campaign arm.
“What matters is if there is a shutdown and all of a sudden your benefit checks stop coming,” Reinish added.
But there’s also a recent precedent suggesting that the party that supports extraneous policy riders is typically seen as responsible for shutdowns and emerges on the losing political end without significant wins. Republicans were bruised from the longest shutdown in U.S. history, which occurred in Trump’s first term and lasted 35 days, after the president failed to get any additional money to construct more of the U.S.-Mexico border wall in 2018 when Republicans controlled Congress.