"Keep fighting": Democratic lawmakers squeezed on government shutdown
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Chuck Schumer on the phone in July. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Progressive grassroots groups are blasting congressional Democrats on speed dial to "hold the line" in any negotiations to reopen the government.
Why it matters: That pressure campaign will make it more difficult for Democrats to compromise with Republicans to end the shutdown.
- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has been closely coordinating his shutdown strategy with outside liberal groups, Axios scooped last week.
- But the groups are clearly playing an inside-outside game and are using their volunteers to dissuade Democrats from compromising.
Driving the news: The Working Families Party's legislative arm, Working Families Power, and MoveOn are ginning up their phone and text banks for their activists to pressure their senators.
- "I'm calling to encourage Senator _________ to hold the line during this shutdown and keep fighting against Trump's health care cuts and price increases," according to a script from Working Families Power first obtained by Axios.
- "Thank your Senator for continuing to hold the line on healthcare against Republicans' cuts," according to a text sent to MoveOn members.
The intrigue: The groups are using carrots and sticks.
- "Your Senator just voted against making healthcare affordable for families. Tell them to do better and fight for us," reads the MoveOn text aimed at supporters living in the states of the 55 senators who voted to fund the government.
Zoom out: On day two of the government shutdown, with the Senate out for Yom Kippur, there was scant evidence of any progress to reopen the government.
- The outlines of a potential deal on extending enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits in exchange for votes to fund the government are starting to emerge, but both sides remain far apart.
- "Let's sit down, let's fix it, let's come up with a timeframe to do that," Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) said Thursday morning on Fox News.
- "We have a path forward, but it requires Senate Democrats to come to their senses and vote for the clean, short-term continuing resolution that would reopen the government," Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) wrote on X.
Zoom in: Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), the only House Democrat to vote to fund the government, is being attacked by state Auditor Matthew Dunlap, who is eyeing a primary challenge against him.
- "Jared Golden voted to allow health insurance premiums to skyrocket by as much as 117% when he caved to Donald Trump and voted with House Republicans," Dunlap told Axios.
- "It's not the first time he's caved, and it probably won't be the last," Dunlap said.
- Dunlap's taunt could serve as a warning to Democrats who are curious about a potential compromise: Work with Republicans and risk a primary challenge.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that the group behind the hold-the-line script is the Working Families Party's legislative arm, Working Families Power (not the Working Families Party itself).
