As the government shutdown continues, Democrats are under fire for both their strategy and their policy priorities. What began as a push to allegedly defend healthcare programs has now turned into a political liability, with Democratic leaders openly acknowledging that taxpayer-backed funds do flow to illegal immigrants.
The Washington Post even mocked Democrats for “marching into a shutdown trap,” and further called it “the wrong hill to die on,” leaving it pretty clear Senate Dems have made a strategic error.
Representative Ro Khanna tried to play down the scope, saying it was only a “tiny” number of undocumented people who end up covered. But Representative Maxine Waters took a broader stance, insisting that “Democrats are demanding healthcare for everybody.” Those remarks cut against weeks of talking points that suggested Republicans were exaggerating the issue. Instead, they confirm what critics have argued all along: the fight is about extending benefits far beyond U.S. citizens.
That reality has sharpened Republican attacks. GOP lawmakers say Democrats are risking the livelihoods of federal workers and jeopardizing critical services just to preserve healthcare for non-citizens. Senator Ted Cruz argued that Democrats “are shutting down the government over healthcare for illegal aliens,” a charge that resonates with voters already skeptical of Washington spending.
The strategic failure is just as glaring as the policy fight. Senator Chuck Schumer has long warned that shutdowns are destructive, calling them reckless tactics that hurt ordinary Americans. Yet Democrats went into this battle without an exit plan. They rejected stopgap funding bills that would have kept the government open, instead drawing red lines over Medicaid and subsidies tied to the Affordable Care Act. By refusing to budge, they backed themselves into a corner with no clear path forward.
The move may have satisfied left-wing loons like AOC, who demanded defiance, but it has left Democrats exposed to charges of dysfunction. They once positioned themselves as the adults in the room, vowing never to use shutdowns as bargaining chips. Now they are seen as instigators of exactly the kind of brinkmanship they condemned when Republicans tried it. The moral of that story is more directed at the news media, which would typically do the bidding of Democrats and frame a shutdown as a Republican-led apocalypse.
The political fallout is already evident. Polling shows independents are frustrated with both parties, but Democrats are increasingly viewed as having mismanaged the standoff by tying their demands so visibly to healthcare for illegal immigrants. It’s a mess for Sen. Schumer with no clear way to back out of this ditch without caving to President Trump and the GOP.
As the shutdown drags on, likely into next week, the contrast grows sharper: Republicans argue they attempted to keep the government funded, while Democrats dug in over policies that benefit those here illegally. For Schumer and his party, the decision to enter the shutdown without a viable plan to get out may prove more damaging than the shutdown itself.