Schumer's Shutdown Failed

Farris Ahmad

Schumer’s Shutdown Failed




The Senate Democrats finally had their moment to shine over the weekend, as the fate of government fell into the minority party’s hands. Needing 60 votes in the Senate to fund government operations and agencies, the majority party, with their 51 votes, rested their hopes on the Democrats to keep the government open. Instead, rallying around protection for DACA recipients, Senator Chuck Schumer flexed his muscles and proceeded to vote against funding for the government, resulting in a Government Shutdown on the eve of President Trump’s inauguration, echoing similar attempts by Ted Cruz in 2013. While these political strategies by the minority party are nothing new, actions taken by our lawmakers in D.C. have been placed under a microscope during the last several years. Many Democrats, including Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren, hoped to gain leverage by shutting down the government, and perhaps force Trump to speak about the grim event during the State of the Union, all but guaranteeing a significant fall in approval ratings and hindering the apparent early success of the Trump Tax Cuts. However, to the disbelief of many Democratic Senators, Chuck Schumer agreed to a deal to reopen the government. All in all, the shutdown lasted a whopping 2 days, a Saturday and Sunday. Senator Schumer’s plan failed miserably, and his leadership abilities are under scrutiny by his constituents and colleagues.

But of course, Senator Schumer must have gotten something in return to help his party’s policy concerns, right? Quite the contrary, actually. Instead, Senate Majority Leader McConnell offered the Democrats virtually nothing. The Senator’s voted on a short term continuing resolution (C.R.) that will fund the government through February 8th, with the hopes of a DACA vote before than. Simultaneously, the White House has pushed back against the Graham-Durbin bill advocated by Schumer, which would keep 800,000 Dreamers and their parents in the only country they know and call home. While Chuck Schumer is mindlessly lauding a Democratic victory in regards to the shutdown, the White House has taken the Graham-Durbin bill off the table. Members on the far left have already vocalized their displeasure with Schumer’s false bravado, including Congressman Luis Gutierrez from Illinois, who says the Minority Leader “caved” to Republicans. House Minority Leader Pelosi claims ending the shutdown was a mistake. Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren voted against the C.R. Schumer’s failed attempt at gaining leverage against the Republicans has only sown greater division within the Democratic Party. While President Trump and the Republicans didn’t have to give up anything to get passed the government shutdown, Schumer’s failed strategy cost the Democrats their greatest asset, leverage. Since Schumer has shown he is unwilling to keep the government shutdown in exchange for DACA protections, the Republican party will no longer fall for his bluff, and the blame will once again be foisted on the Democrats.

To dispel any notion of division within the party, Schumer and the Democrats have to do one thing, just win in November. While his initial intentions seemed to be in good faith, the risk simply was not worth it. As Ted Cruz knows, government shutdowns do not favor the minority party, and Schumer should have known that before making any decisions. Senator Schumer should be reluctant to interfere with the potential blue wave coming in November, and it seems though he received that message fairly quickly. Up until the Schumer Shutdown fiasco, the Democrats seemed united, to their benefit, in their opposition towards Trump, which has resonated well with their constituents. Any sign of division could be catastrophic for the party, as a loss in November could send shock waves throughout the left wing. Unfortunately for the Democrats, their lack of leverage against the Republicans could diminish their ability to negotiate a vote on DACA.