One of the reasons Democrats are feeling a little cocky about the ongoing government shutdown is that ultimately, all furloughed workers are supposed to get back pay once the shutdown is over.
This gives Democrats some cushion to continue their holdout, as long as workers don’t miss more than one or two checks.
Trump just dropped a bombshell on them, however, suggesting that not all such workers are guaranteed back pay, with the president also considering mass layoffs if the shutdown goes into the end of the week.
I wrote in several reports this week that I thought it would be a good move for the GOP to create legislation to extend the Obamacare subsidies, something Democrats claimed to want.
I believed that concession would gain the GOP favor with voters who are worried about the rising costs of healthcare, and it would get Democrats to approve the continuing resolution (CR) to reopen the government.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) balked at the idea, however, saying that a one-year extension of the subsidies was a non-starter for him, which, to me, proved that he is not about the American people but all about power and carrying out a political stunt.
Jeffries stated, “What world are these MAGA extremists living in right now to think that Democrats are going to go along with a one-year extension from a group of people, meaning the Republicans, who just permanently extended massive tax breaks for their billionaire donors? It’s a laughable proposition. It makes no sense. The Democratic position has been clear: Permanent extension, and let’s go from there.”
This should have been an easy win for Jeffries and Democrats to take, but now they sound like they are just in this for the show. A year is a long time, and they could have negotiated something more permanent down the road, and there are plenty of Republicans on board with that.
Instead, Jeffries shot the offer down, but the problem is that his entire caucus is not on board with the move, as nearly a dozen House Democrats have already committed to signing on to the legislation presented by the House Republicans.
Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) stated, "This bill isn't perfect -- I'd prefer a permanent extension, and I'd gladly settle for a multi-year one -- but right now, our priority must be stopping the massive health insurance premium hikes set to hit mailboxes in less than a month. We can't afford to remain in a stalemate, each side waiting for the other to blink."
That is the problem with the leadership in the Democratic Party, in that they are always in an all-or-nothing mode. This could have been a bipartisan win, with both sides bragging about the outcome, but now Democrats are going to look like the bad guys, handing Trump even more leverage in the shutdown, and he will take advantage of it.
The general belief is that all furloughed workers will receive back pay once the government reopens, but a memo was leaked from the Office of Management and Budget that counters such a notion.
Trump wants to cut government staffing, and now he has a reason to do so, and he also wants to cut payroll, while being able to blame it all on the Democrats for not signing off on subsidies legislation and ending their holdout.
The president stated, “I can tell you this: The Democrats have put a lot of people in great risk and jeopardy. For the most part, we’re going to take care of our people. There are some people that really don’t deserve to be taken care of. And we’ll take care of them in a different way.”
Some on the right are saying Trump may have risked the GOP's chances of winning this battle with that message, and I don’t necessarily disagree. Trump has no filter, however, so it is what it is. He is clearly hoping that people get the message that none of this would have happened had Democrats signed onto the CR. Now, whatever happens falls at their feet.
