Chris Cillizza: The Dirty Little Secret That Led Democrats To a Government Shutdown

"The government shutdown isn’t just about policy fights over Obamacare subsidies or Donald Trump. At its core, it’s about politics — and one politician in particular: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

In this video, Chris Cillizza breaks down how AOC’s pressure on the left has shaped Chuck Schumer’s decisions, why the Senate Minority Leader is looking over his shoulder at a potential 2028 primary, and how that fear is influencing Democrats’ shutdown strategy. 

Could this really be the AOC shutdown? 

Why Schumer’s March vote still matters today

🔹 The growing tension between Democratic leadership and the progressive left

🔹 What AOC’s 2028 options — Senate or White House — mean for the party’s future...

Source:Chris Cillizza with a look at U.S. Representative Alexandria O. Cortez (Democratic Socialist, Bronx, New York) not even glasses make AOC look older and look experienced.

From Chris Cillizza

My colleague Fred Schneider mentioned what Chris Cilliza said here, yesterday. And this was his argument: 

"But I actually think there's something else going on here. I don't like questioning political motives of people, especially who are currently in government, even members of my own party where you would have more credibility in doing that. But as the Minority Leader said so himself for why he didn't go through with the shutdown back in March, when talking to Sunny Hostin on The View:

“First I’d say, Sunny, no one wants to fight more than me, and no one fights more than me. We got to fight smart. It is not true — that bill had far less — it was bad, I hated it,” Schumer said. “But it does far less damage to — Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid are far more susceptible to being eliminated, which is what that horrible Musk — can you imagine this guy Musk, a billionaire, saying $1,100 for a senior citizen is not necessary? Or a Ponzi scheme...

Leader Schumer's official reasoning for not shutting down the government in March... he didn't want Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the Office of Management and Budget to get to decide who gets fired, laid off, has to work for free, who gets paid and who doesn't, who gets their public assistance checks, who doesn't, while the government is shut down. So what's changed? 

What has changed in the last 6-7 months, is after the government funding debate in March, where Senate Democrats just let that bill go through with a majority vote and didn't block it... is Chuck Schumer took a lot of political heat from his left-wing of the party... The Squad and their supporters. There was talk about U.S. Representative Alexandria O. Cortez challenging Schumer in the 2028 New York Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. 

Chuck Schumer is 75 years old, he's been in Congress since 1981, he's been in the Democratic Leadership since 2005. He's the definition of a career politician. Take him out of public office, would be like forcing fish to swim without water. Being a politician and a political leader is the only thing he knows and wants to do. 

And Leader Schumer apparently thinks the way for him to save his Senate seat, is too look cool and tough for "The Squad" and look like he's fighting for them, even if that means putting the future of the Democratic Party at risk and quite frankly the country, if voters think Democrats aren't ready to govern again next year...

From The New Democrat

So this was my argument for why Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and company for not shutting down the government back in March: 

"I hate to break it to the far-left in America, but the U.S. Government is not the administration building at Columbia University, or any other preppy, Northeastern, elitist, university. You can't just shut it down and then go home, or go back to your dorm and wait for someone else to clean up your mess for you. 

And if you shut down the government... sure, you can claim to be "badasses" and the coolest people on campus. But then what? The mainstream media and MAGA can't blame the Democrats for a government shutdown this week? Why? Because there isn't 1. 

So what does the far-left do instead? They attack the Democratic leadership for not shutting down the government and call Chuck Schumer to be replaced, because he wouldn't shut down the government. And then they wonder why they're never in charge of anything serious and important, at least in Washington. But I've never wondered that." 

From The New Democrat

I'm going to start off with something that's going to sound really harsh here and then I'll get into my stronger argument. I think Chuck Schuner is having a Joe Biden moment. (I know that sounds really mean) 

But remember after June, 2024 debate, where President Biden looked like he was half asleep on the debate stage with Donald Trump, for most of that debate... struggled to just finish his own sentences and fill out the time that he was given to speak. And the Democratic activists were already calling for the President to step down the presidential race that night. 

But how does President Biden react? Like any other career politician who is way past his prime and now has a very good look at the end of his career. For about 10 days, the President bunkers down and essentially telling people he's going nowhere. But reality sets in: 

he's told that if he stays in he race, his campaign funds will be cut off. 

His own campaign staff telling him he's not only already lost all the swing states, but would now lose Minnesota, New Mexico, Virginia, even... New Jersey would be close, etc. 

And reality finally set in and the President finally dropped out. And perhaps you also remember the rest of the 2024 campaign yourself. 

Because Leader Schumer made the right decision not to shut down the government in March, the so-called Squad (which most of the time looks no more professional and experienced than the Columbia chapter of Students For a Democratic Society) threatens his job and tells him he has to step down, or face a primary challenge... probably from U.S. Representative Alexandria O. Cortez in 2028. She's probably not just the most popular and powerful Socialist, inside of Congress right now (sorry, Senators Sanders and Warren) but probably the most powerful and popular Socialist outside of Congress as well. 

So the reason why the government is shut down right now, even though it gives the power to the President to cut and layoff at will as many people as he wants, during the shutdown, because 75 year old Chuck Schumer (who has been in Congress since 1981, served 9 terms in the House, now in his 5th term in the Senate) is worried about losing his job 3 years from now. So this is just 1 reason why The New Democrat is calling this government shutdown, the Schumer shutdown. Because it's not based on what's good for the country, or even the Democratic Party next year, but what's good for Chuck Schumer's political future. 

My colleague Derik Schneider made the political, as well as policy argument for why Leader Schumer and company shouldn't have gone through with this, last Friday: 

"So, under The Anti-Deficiency Act, when the government shutdowns, the executive branch, under The White House and Office of Management Budget, gets to decide who is essential and who is nonessential, when it comes to the federal workforce. Meaning, who gets to show up to work, who has to stay home, who has to show up and work for free, during the shutdown. 

In case anyone who sees this, was born last night, (and if you are able to read before you even reach 1 day old, I'm fairly impressed) Donald John Trump is currently President of the United States and Russell Vought is currently the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Do you really want these two "gentlemen" in charge of what stays open and is closed, who gets to go to work, who stays home, who has to work for free, during a government shutdown? 

Mr. Vought is 1 of the chief authors of Project 2025, which is a document that lays out how a President Trump could claim and use more executive authority, then the Constitution currently gives the President of the United States. And how they could essentially get away with that. Is this who you want in charge of the government shutdown in Washington? 

At least if Congress passed a government funding bill, (whatever you actually think of the actual bill) there are laws there that the courts can protect, requiring the executive branch to spend this amount of money, with this amount of workers in place enforcing those spending requirements. But put Trump and Vought in charge, thanks to your shutdown, there's no one left in place who could even try to hold the President and OMB accountable during a shutdown...

From The New Democrat

You would think that someone who has not just been in Congress as long as Chuck Schumer, but in he leadership as long as Leader Schumer, would know about The Ant-Deficiency Act. But that's not what the Democratic Leader is reading right now. He's reading his own poll numbers, especially in New York. And that's all he seems to care about right now. 

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