Constitutionally suspect? Maybe. Strategically brilliant? Certainly.
Democrats have put themselves in a historically bad spot by choosing to reject a clean continuing resolution offered each day by Republicans anyway. The track record for government shutdowns has been grimmer than a roulette wheel on a dodgy casino on a secondary highway. The house, or more accurately the White House, always wins. Presidents control the designation of essential services and the use of funds when Congress refuses to budget, which is why Democrats — who know this better than the GOP, usually — have never opted for a shutdown as a bargaining tactic.
After winging his way back from a global triumph in the Middle East, Donald Trump comes back to the Schumer Shutdown with an even stronger hand politically. However, Trump’s foreign policy also offers him fiscal strength that previous presidents have not had in shutdowns, or at least not to the extent Trump will enjoy. Punchbowl explains:
The White House is girding for a long shutdown and has found several new funding streams for critical programs, according to top Trump administration officials.
— The Office of Management and Budget is “working on ways” to get paychecks to federal law-enforcement officers, according to an administration official. This is similar to what Trump ordered over the weekend for 1.3 million active duty military service members.
— The Trump administration will ensure the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children — known as WIC — can continue to operate for the foreseeable future, a White House official said. The administration says it will use hundreds of millions of dollars in Section 32 tariff revenue. This is a vital nutrition program that serves more than six million participants per month, including 40%-plus of U.S. infants.
Even in earlier shutdowns, presidents have access to funding through other mechanisms. That includes tariffs, which despite the hysteria over the last six-plus months, have always existed in US trade relations. However, Trump vastly expanded tariffs as part of both his economic and foreign-relations policies, which are certainly legit areas for debate. At the moment, though, they are providing Trump with much more funding and flexibility to keep popular programs active while shutting down others.
What’s the downside? This does impact the ability of Congress to check the power of the executive. It’s one reason that the Constitution gave the legislative branch the power to enact tariffs rather than the executive branch. At the time, tariffs were the main source of federal government revenue and only granted by Congress to the executive branch through the appropriation process. Over the last several decades, Congress has been more concerned about ducking issues and avoiding controversies, and so it has farmed out that authority to the executive branch through statutes that Trump is now using to expand his direct access to income streams independent of Congress. The Supreme Court will hear arguments on that very issue in this term, but not fast enough to rescue Schumer from the trap he set for himself in this shutdown.
Between this boosted income stream and Russ Vought’s wholesale elimination of tens of thousands of jobs, Trump and the GOP can afford to wait out Schumer. Punchbowl reports that Schumer’s bravado is only hardening their position:
But the White House seems very comfortable with its position and is preparing for an extended shutdown. They’re citing comments from top Democrats, including Schumer, who told us last week that “every day gets better” for Democrats’ shutdown strategy, as a reason to keep going.
“These disgusting statements reveal that Democrats are dug in, and show no signs of changing course,” said a senior White House official. “Republicans want the government open, but we will not be held hostage to partisan demands.”
Schumer’s incoherence doesn’t help his case either, Charles C.W. Cooke writes today at NRO:
If Republicans “own this shutdown” because they “control the Senate, the House, and the White House,” then why would they need to “come to the table” to “sit down and negotiate with Democrats to reopen the government”? Those two things cannot simultaneously be true. Either the Democrats are using the leverage they have to shut down the government so that Republicans can’t “[take] health care away from you,” or the Democrats are helpless bystanders watching the Republicans keep Washington D.C. closed just to be mean. But they can’t be both. …
In effect, Schumer’s message is, “The Republicans did this, and can end it at any moment; but also the Democrats did this, and we won’t give in until we get what we want; and also the Democrats are using the filibuster to fight for what’s right, and, if they were decent, the Republicans would take that tool away from us.”
These inherent contradictions, not to mention their bad strategic position, likely mean this standoff won’t last much longer. Trump’s coming back to the US in triumph, which makes Schumer’s refusal to pass a clean CR look even more petty. Most leading Democrats have refused to even acknowledge Trump’s role in getting the hostages out of Gaza and potentially ending the two-year war that dominated global policy, which makes them look more like ankle-biters over a budget battle than before Trump announced the ceasefire agreement.
Democrats likely won’t budge before the weekend. They are planning another series of “No Kings” rallies to raise money on the basis of Trump’s supposed authoritarianism, which they are actively creating with their shutdown. Perhaps they are hoping that their dwindling supporters can’t recognize irony when it slaps them in the face. However, Trump already has counter-programmed this weekend:
After months away from Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, President Donald Trump will return there for an elite fundraiser — the same weekend as nationwide “No Kings” protests are scheduled, including some down the road from his private club.
According to a notice from the Federal Aviation Administration and reporting by the Palm Beach Daily News, a USA TODAY Network newspaper, Trump will be in Palm Beach from Friday, Oct. 17, to Sunday, Oct. 19. …
Trump is set to be the keynote speaker at a $1 million-per-plate fundraiser for super PAC MAGA Inc. on Friday, Oct. 17, at Mar-a-Lago. Coincidentally, about 2,500 “No Kings” anti-Trump administration protests are expected to happen Saturday, Oct. 18, according to the “No Kings” website, including more than 80 in Florida and some down the road from Mar-a-Lago.
These same protests flopped in late June, which took place almost immediately after Trump destroyed Iran’s nuclear facilities and set up the conditions for the deal last week that freed the hostages yesterday. The new protests, coming as Trump’s deal ends fighting and curtails terrorism, are not likely to fare any better. Schumer would do better in a “no kings” sense to stop obstructing the branch of government meant to check the power of the executive.
The latest episode of The Ed Morrissey Show podcast is now up! Today’s show features:
- The only people not to recognize Donald Trump’s efforts for world peace seem to congregate in Oslo.
- Andrew Malcolm scolds the ignoble Nobel Committee, but remains a bit skeptical about how Trump pulled off his magic trick with Gaza. What side deals may have made this possible?
- Plus, we wonder how Democrats pushing the shutdown will deal with such an ascendant president without looking like ankle-biters.
- Finally, Andrew has technical issues whenever the Cleveland Browns come up, for some reason …
The Ed Morrissey Show is now a fully downloadable and streamable show at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, the TEMS Podcast YouTube channel, and on Rumble and our own in-house portal at the #TEMS page!
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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