Fetterman Nukes Dems Game Playing Over the Schumer Shutdown

As we reported on Wednesday, it looks like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is marching the Democrats toward a government shutdown by Friday's deadline because they don't want to vote in favor of the stopgap continuing resolution that was passed in the House that funds things through September.

Schumer is now trying to counter with a potential clean 30-day continuing resolution until April to avoid the Democrats getting tagged with the "Schumer Shutdown." But just as a clean CR without any deal to pass the larger bill is just kicking the can down the road, it continues to make the Democrats look silly.

Also, as CNN's Manu Raju suggested, there may be Democrats who are afraid of the government shutdown who will jump ship. It's not clear where those people he talks about are now in the wake of the 30-day proposal.

House Democrats warning Senate Democrats not to vote for GOP spending bill — as many Senate Dems torn with shutdown looming.

Pramila Jayapal warning of a “backlash” for Senate Dems who vote for it.

“They should refuse to allow this bill to pass in the Senate,” she told me.

If… pic.twitter.com/3n0Bs4MCUp
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 12, 2025

If they don’t?

“I think there's going to be huge backlash from across the country, and I think all of them will have to deal with the consequences of that,” Jayapal said.

Since Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has said he's a no on the GOP CR, so that means the Republicans need eight Democrats to agree to get to the 60 number they need.

It Seems the Schumer Shutdown Is Coming

It sounds like they have at least one now, as Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) stomped all over the Democrats' theatrics, saying it wasn't going to work. He cited The Hill, which had a title about Democrats trying to "save face" in the shutdown battle and he called it out for not being "honest" or "winning."

Shut the government down, plunge the country into chaos, risk a recession

or

Exchange cloture for a 30 day CR that 100% fails.

The House GOP CR will then pass the Senate because it only needs 51 votes.

Total theater is neither honest with constituents nor a winning argument. pic.twitter.com/U2gtVkp6yS
— U.S. Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) March 13, 2025

Shut the government down, plunge the country into chaos, risk a recession

or

Exchange cloture for a 30 day CR that 100% fails.

The House GOP CR will then pass the Senate because it only needs 51 votes.

Total theater is neither honest with constituents nor a winning argument.

He's, of course, right in terms of the Democratic game-playing -- good on him for calling it out. This is just about not getting blamed, not actually trying to come together on a real bill that works, and he thinks they're going to lose anyway at the end of it. He's probably right if Republicans hold together. It's also incredibly hypocritical since the Democrats are always screaming about the harm of a shutdown, yet they seem to think it's cool to play with it now.

So if Fetterman is a "no," the question might be how many other Democrats are thinking like Fetterman and don't want to get tagged with the Schumer Shutdown. But it is another confirmation that the Democrats, even with the House Democrats acting like the Borg, don't have everyone on board in the Senate. The Republicans need to stand strong for the GOP CR and make it happen.