It’s officially the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, and about a dozen Democrats are itching to find a way out.
But after Democrats’ sweeping victories Tuesday night, their colleagues are waking up this morning and wondering: Are we really going to cave now?
The big wins in Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and elsewhere stand to complicate efforts to reopen the government. It’s hard to see most Democrats wanting to temper their momentum immediately after witnessing a massive voter backlash to President Donald Trump and Republicans.
“Tonight’s results are a repudiation of the Trump agenda,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement that called it “a good night for Democrats and our fight to lower costs, improve healthcare, and reach a better future for American families.”
The Democrats searching for an exit to the shutdown had their say during a two-hour-plus caucus lunch Tuesday that ended with grim faces and tight lips. Expect voices like Sen. Chris Murphy’s to carry weight Wednesday.
“Maybe the take is that (a) people think Trump is out of control; and (b) people like Dems when we’re taking a stand and fighting for what we believe in — as we have been for the last month,” Murphy (D-Conn.) posted on X Tuesday night.
Now it’s Republicans’ turn to have a long awkward meal. GOP senators are headed to the White House Wednesday morning for a breakfast meeting with Trump, who is unlikely to be in a jovial mood given the GOP’s electoral drubbing.
Senators can expect the president to rekindle his push to kill the filibuster as two senior Republicans granted anonymity to speak candidly say he is getting increasingly unhappy as the shutdown drags on.
He hinted as much in a late-night Truth Social post: ‘“TRUMP WASN’T ON THE BALLOT, AND SHUTDOWN, WERE THE TWO REASONS THAT REPUBLICANS LOST ELECTIONS TONIGHT,’ according to Pollsters.”
But GOP senators made clear Tuesday he won’t have a very receptive audience if he makes a hard sell on going “nuclear,” with many favoring the 60-vote status quo.
“Simply going to make the Senate a mini version of the House is not what any of us really want to do,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said.
What else we’re watching:
— Congress gets more info on strikes: The White House is starting to provide Congress more information about U.S. maritime strikes as GOP senators threaten to side with Democrats to restrict Trump’s war powers. Senate Armed Services ranking member Jack Reed (D-R.I) said Tuesday that last week’s bipartisan public admonishment of the administration for not providing the legal rationale for the strikes on alleged drug traffickers prompted DOD officials to provide lawmakers “some new material to read.” He doesn’t think it covered most unanswered questions.
— Boozman, Booker meet with crypto czar: Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman (R-Ark.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) plan to speak Wednesday afternoon with White House crypto and AI czar David Sacks as lawmakers look to finalize the committee’s portion of a sweeping crypto market structure bill.
Connor O’Brien, Jordain Carney, Katherine Tully-McManus, Jasper Goodman, Meredith Lee Hill, Nicholas Wu and Kelly Garrity contributed to this report.
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