The Democrats’ narrative pinning blame for the government shutdown on Republicans is losing steam.

Left-leaning lawmakers have openly admitted that they are using the impending expiration of SNAP benefits as “leverage” against their GOP counterparts. This tactic has ignited significant backlash, even from those who typically align with them, including CNN anchor Jake Tapper and the American Federation of Government Employees.

‘Who’s winning, who’s losing? Well, 100% America loses with this.’

The fallout is increasing the pressure on congressional Democrats to work across the aisle to pass a clean continuing resolution, averting disruptions for SNAP recipients as benefits are set to lapse this Saturday.

“Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House. Frankly, this is our only moment of leverage,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) told C-SPAN on Thursday in reference to the government shutdown. Coons admitted that it was “a very unpleasant tool to use.”

Senate Republicans called Coons’ comments “absolutely deranged.”

“Chris Coons believes that denying Americans their SNAP benefits may be ‘unpleasant,’ but it’s worth doing because it gives Democrats political ‘leverage,’” Republicans wrote.

John Fetterman. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (Mass.) similarly admitted during an interview in mid-October that her party was using the shutdown as leverage.

“Shutdowns are terrible, and of course, there will be families that are going to suffer. We take that responsibility very seriously. But it is one of the few leverage times we have,” Clark stated.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) told journalist Nicholas Ballasy this week that the shutdown is “the only lever we have.”

Ballasy also asked Sen. John Fetterman (D-Penn.) for his thoughts on the ongoing stalemate. Fetterman was one of the few Democrats to break ranks and vote for Republicans’ proposed continuing resolution.

“I’m not going to describe the lives of millions of Americans as, like, a euphemism, as ‘leverage.’ I mean, this isn’t a political game,” Fetterman told Ballasy on Tuesday.

“Who’s winning, who’s losing? Well, 100% America loses with this,” he concluded.

John Thune. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) used his time on the Senate floor on Wednesday to call out Democrat lawmakers for their controversial admissions.

Thune mentioned a comment from Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who previously said, “Every day gets better for us,” when referring to the shutdown.

“Lest there be any question about who is responsible for shutting the government down, make no mistake about it: These guys are the ones who are out there bragging about it ‘getting better for us every single day,’ or, ‘we have more leverage now,’” Thune stated.

Thune explained that 60 votes are required to pass the clean continuing resolution, noting that it has failed 13 times with only 55 votes.

“So, the question is, are there five people over there with a backbone? Five courageous Democrats?” he added.

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Senate Republicans betray Trump, help Democrats try to block tariffs

A handful of Senate Republicans defied President Donald Trump in a contentious vote to block the administration's tariffs on Brazil.

The Senate narrowly passed a resolution Tuesday night to zero out Trump's 50% tariffs on Brazilian imports in a 52-48 vote. Five Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina — aided all 47 Democrats to pass the resolution.

The resolution is likely to die in the House before ever making it to Trump's desk.

This rebuke comes from Trump's most vocal critics in the Senate, all of whom have bucked the administration in the past.

Paul has repeatedly voted against Republican funding bills, including the continuing resolution that would reopen the government, all but guaranteeing he is disinvited from many White House events his colleagues attend. Tillis, who announced he would be retiring following this term, also voted against the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Collins, Murkowski, and McConnell have been a thorn in Trump's side, repeatedly voting against key nominees.

Anna Rose Layden/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The resolution is likely to die in the House before ever making it to Trump's desk. Even if Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) were to hold a vote on the resolution, the Republican majority would likely side with the administration.

Notably, this is not the first time Republicans defied the White House to block Trump's tariffs.

Vice President JD Vance had to cast a tiebreaking vote back in May to block a similar resolution that would have halted Trump's tariffs. At the time, Murkowski, Collins, and Paul were the three lawmakers who went against the grain.

Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

"Farmers are hurting. Inflation is squeezing every worker. And tariffs are making it worse," Paul said in a recent post on X. "We can’t print enough money to paper over bad policy."

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Here's every time Senate Democrats voted to keep the government shut down

Nearly a month into the shutdown, Senate Democrats have refused to reopen the government over a dozen times. Even still, Democrats are pointing the finger at Republicans.

Although Republicans hold a majority in both chambers of Congress, there's been a hang-up in the Senate. Instead of a simple majority, the Senate actually needs 60 votes in order to pass the continuing resolution. Republicans do hold a 53-seat majority in the Senate, but they need the help of at least seven Democrats to reopen the government.

Senate Democrats have effectively voted to continue withholding paychecks from federal workers and critical benefits from the American people over a dozen times.

This is easier said than done. When the Senate voted on the GOP's clean continuing resolution on September 30, only three Democrats crossed the aisle in an attempt to keep the government open: Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, and Angus King of Maine.

Both Cortez Masto and King origianally voted against the bill on September 19 but flipped their votes ahead of the funding deadline. Notably, Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has consistently voted with Democrats.

As a result, the government shut down and has remained closed ever since midnight of October 1.

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

The Republicans' funding bill is clean and entirely non-ideological, while the Democrats' hyper-partisan alternative boasts a hefty $1.5 trillion price tag. Democrats have also insisted on renegotiating the Obamacare subsidies despite the fact that they won't expire until the end of the year.

Now 28 days into the shutdown, Senate Democrats have effectively voted to continue withholding paychecks from federal workers and critical benefits from the American people over a dozen times. Here is a breakdown of every time Democrats voted to keep the government shut down.

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Friday, September 19, 2025, Roll Call No. 528 (44-48)
Tuesday, September 30, 2025, Roll Call No. 535 (55-45)
Wednesday, October 1, 2025, Roll Call No. 537 (55-45)
Friday, October 3, 2025, Roll Call No. 543 (54-44)
Monday, October 6, 2025, Roll Call No. 545 (52-42)
Wednesday, October 8, 2025, Roll Call No. 551 (54-45)
Thursday, October 9, 2025, Roll Call No. 558 (54-45)
Tuesday, October 14, 2025, Roll Call No. 571 (49-45)
Wednesday, October 15, 2025, Roll Call No. 572 (51-44)
Thursday, October 16, 2025, Roll Call No. 573 (51-45)
Monday, October 20, 2025, Roll Call No. 576 (50-43)
Wednesday, October 22, 2025, Roll Call No. 581 (54-46)
Tuesday, October 28, 2025, Roll Call No. 590 (54-45)

Since the shutdown began, no Democrat votes have changed. The slight changes in vote tallies can be attributed to attendance.

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Democrats halt half the country’s food aid programs over shutdown stalemate

At least 25 states across the country will pause critical food aid programs for millions of Americans due to the Democrat-induced government shutdown.

Dozens of states will issue notices to recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that they will not receive their government benefits on November 1. SNAP is notably the country's largest food assistance program, with over 41 million recipients.

'I choose country over party.'

These crucial benefits are set to lapse exactly a month into the shutdown all because Democrats refuse to vote for a clean, nonpartisan resolution to keep the government funded. Instead, Democrats are insisting on passing their own hyper-partisan $1.5 trillion bill and renegotiating Obamacare subsidies even though they don't expire until the end of the year.

"It’s becoming clearer by the day that Democrats don’t want an outcome, they want a political issue," Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said in a post on X.

Allison Robbert/Bloomberg via Getty Images

"They’ve refused to reopen the government – 12 times," Thune added. "They’ve refused my offer to discuss Obamacare’s failures. They’ve refused my offer to hold a vote on their own proposal to address a problem they created. They’ve refused to pay the troops and federal employees who are working without a paycheck. The only thing they’ve said yes to? The Schumer Shutdown and political 'leverage.'"

Republicans have made multiple efforts to reopen the government, to pay federal workers, and to keep government programs afloat. Despite this, the majority of Democrats continue to stonewall their colleagues across the aisle and ultimately, the American people.

However, not all Democrats have stuck with their party's position. Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania has largely made a name for himself by bucking his own party, and this shutdown fight is no exception. As the shutdown approaches the fourth week, Fetterman made it clear that he's interested in "country over party."

Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images

"Shut our government down and America loses," Fetterman said in a post on X. "2 MILLION Pennsylvanians depend on SNAP to feed their families. For me, it’s hungry Americans over party. Paying our military over party. Paying Capitol Police and federal workers over party. I choose country over party."

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Senate Democrats senselessly block GOP bill that would pay workers during government shutdown

Senate Democrats have doubled down on the government shutdown, blocking a bill that would make sure federal workers wouldn't miss any more paychecks.

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin proposed the bill on the Senate floor that would ensure service members and federal personnel who are currently working would get their paychecks during the Democrat-induced shutdown. Only three Democrats in the entire Senate joined Republicans to pay federal workers.

'They want to shut down the government.'

The bill ultimately failed, falling six votes short of the 60-vote threshold. Democratic Sens. Jon Ossoff of Georgia, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, and Raphael Warnock of Georgia bucked 45 of their colleagues and joined 51 Republicans in support of the bill.

"We've heard Democrats criticize [Johnson's] bill because it would provide pay only to those working through the shutdown," Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in a post on X. "They say they want everyone to get paid. Well, I have great news: the clean CR would pay everyone. We just need five more Democrats to support it."

Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

As Thune and his allies at the White House have pointed out, Democrats are the ones who have consistently voted against passing a clean continuing resolution to keep the government open. At the same time, Democrats are demanding Congress renegotiate Obamacare subsidies that aren't set to expire until the end of the year and insisting on passing their hyper-partisan $1.5 trillion spending bill.

"I'll just point out the irony in Democrats holding the government and the American public hostage over a health care system that they created," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during Thursday's briefing. "The health care system was called Obamacare. Why? Because Democrats and President Obama implemented it. And Republicans have always said it's a broken system, yes, but they caused it. And now they want to shut down the government to fix it?

"We need to open the government, and then we can have these very important conversations about health care," she continued.

Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

Republicans have remained consistent on the shutdown fight. Their resolution is a clean, nonpartisan funding bill that keeps spending at the same rates Democrats voted for over a dozen times in the past. Thune has even indicated he would be willing to give Democrats a vote on the Obamacare subsidies so long as they vote to open the government.

Even still, just three Democrats have mustered up the courage to consistently vote with Republicans to reopen the government.

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'These people are sick': Trump admin slams top Dem for justifying shutdown suffering

House Democrats' second in command provided a jaw-dropping justification for the suffering inflicted on American families during the government shutdown, and the White House is having none of it.

As the government shutdown approaches its fourth week, Americans are bracing themselves to miss paychecks and key government benefits like SNAP. House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) admitted that the Democrat-induced government shutdown has been painful for families across the country but justified it because "it is one of the few leverage times [Democrats] have."

'At some point, the Democrats are going to have to take yes for an answer.'

"I mean, shutdowns are terrible," Clark said in a recent interview. "Of course, there are going to be families that are going to suffer. We take that responsibility very seriously."

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Democrats are holding federal paychecks hostage and using government benefits as leverage to accomplish a policy agenda Americans rejected at the ballot box last November. Rather than voting for the Republicans' clean, nonpartisan funding bill, which notably keeps spending levels at the same rate Democrats voted for over a dozen times in the past, Democrats are set on ramming through their own policies.

The White House quickly condemned Clark's comments, calling Democrats "sick" for using the American people as leverage.

"Not only are Democrats refusing to reopen the government and knowingly inflicting pain on the American people, but now they’re bragging about using struggling American families as leverage for their radical left agenda," White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson told Blaze News. "These people are sick.”

The Democrats' counter funding bill would cost taxpayers $1.5 trillion to effectively reverse every legislative accomplishment Republicans secured through President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Democrats are also demanding that Congress address Obamacare subsidies immediately despite the fact that they expire at the end of the year.

Allison Robbert/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Although Democrats have remained stubborn, their efforts are ultimately futile. Republicans hold a supermajority, meaning Democrats will never have the support to pass legislation on their own during this Congress. Even though Democrats are trying to force the GOP's hand, top Republicans have maintained that they are not responsible for the shutdown and that it's up to their colleagues across the aisle to do the right thing and reopen the government.

"If the Democrats want to talk about subjects unrelated to ... getting the government open again, we’re happy to have those conversations," Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Tuesday. "But we’ve repeatedly now gone through this, and at some point, the Democrats are going to have to take yes for an answer."

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Democrats admit to weaponizing shutdown for ‘leverage’ against GOP while Americans feel the sting

Senate Republicans betray Trump, help Democrats try to block tariffs

Here's every time Senate Democrats voted to keep the government shut down

Senate Democrats senselessly block GOP bill that would pay workers during government shutdown

'These people are sick': Trump admin slams top Dem for justifying shutdown suffering

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