We're closing in on the one-month anniversary of the start of the Schumer Shutdown, with Democrats continuing to play politics by essentially holding the government hostage over "free" healthcare for illegal immigrants and a demand to extend the "extra" Obamacare subsidies put in place during the Biden-Harris administration beyond the end of the year.
As RedState reported, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (MA-05) said the quiet part out loud about the Democrat strategy in a recent interview, stating that "Shutdowns are terrible and, of course, there will be, you know, families that are going to suffer. We take that responsibility very seriously. But it is one of the few leverage items we have."
Clark's comments follow those from Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who, two weeks ago, proclaimed that "Every day gets better for us,” in response to the questions about the Democrats' harmful shutdown tactics, which don't allow for our troops to get paid and for low-income moms to help feed their children.
As we've reported, another group that has been heavily impacted by the Schumer Shutdown has been air traffic controllers, who are considered essential workers by the federal government. Some of them have called in sick as the shutdown has dragged on, which has caused significant delays at some airports, as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has acknowledged.
But on Thursday, during a House GOP Conference presser alongside House Speaker Mike Johnson (LA-04), Duffy unloaded on Schumer and other Senate Democrats, zeroing in on what he sees as the real issue at play here: That the Democrat Party has been hijacked by its radical base, which they know will try to punish them in primaries, something that we're already seeing play out in some races across the country:
"Democrats are concerned about their own hides and they’ve sold the country to the most radical element of the country."
.@SecDuffy: “Democrats have a radical base, a base that is out of control… If they vote to open up the government they are going to be primaried, they are going to be attacked…Democrats are concerned about their own hides and they’ve sold the country to the most radical element… pic.twitter.com/7l2XRl2pmL
— USDOT Rapid Response (@USDOTRapid) October 23, 2025
In another clip, Duffy noted that "next Tuesday" will be the day of the first paycheck that ATC will not receive due to the shutdown. He correctly observed that some of them were having to consider taking a second job to put food on the table for their families and to pay the bills, despite working five and sometimes six days a week to help control American airspace.
.@SecDuffy: “If you have a controller that works six days a week but has to think about how am I going to pay the mortgage, how am I going to make the car payment, how am I going to put food on my kid’s table…They have to make choices and the choices they’re making are to take a… pic.twitter.com/RAXkkRmwDj
— USDOT Rapid Response (@USDOTRapid) October 23, 2025
Air traffic controllers have started sharing their ZERO DOLLAR paychecks.
— USDOT Rapid Response (@USDOTRapid) October 23, 2025
Democrats should be ashamed. pic.twitter.com/850B82F6B9
Johnson made a similar point to Duffy's during a Thursday CNBC interview, and in this tweet:
After this weekend’s “Hate America” rallies co-sponsored by the Communist Party, I thought he’d finally do the right thing. But he’s still too terrified of his radical base — even admitting he’ll KEEP the government shut down while hardworking Americans suffer.
Chuck Schumer has been in Congress 44 years and ALWAYS voted to keep the government open — including voting yes on THIS SAME FUNDING BILL just 7 months ago.
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) October 23, 2025
After this weekend’s “Hate America” rallies co-sponsored by the Communist Party, I thought he’d finally do the right… pic.twitter.com/J5gWyajBKG
Chuck Schumer is terrified that Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) is going to try and primary him in 2028, so to appease the far-left base that he made mad in March by caving to Republicans on the continuing resolution, he his allowing the shutdown to continue while claiming "every day gets better for us" and while other Democrat so-called leaders admittedly use suffering people as "leverage."
If that's not depraved and wholly emblematic of what and where the modern Democrat Party is right now, I don't know what is.
Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.
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