"Senate Democrats are about to cave and reopen the government without having gotten anything of substance," tweets Erick Erickson. "They could have done that 35 days ago."
Senate Democrats are about to cave and reopen the government without having gotten anything of substance. They could have done that 35 days ago.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) November 9, 2025
Perhaps Democrats have been attempting to stall in hopes that it would enable a Republican-only power move. By not playing ball with Republicans, Democrats have left the other side with the options of allowing the gridlock to continue or attempting a majority-only solution to solve the gridlock. Whether or not that is possible aside, the attempt itself of a Republican majority to move forward without opposition party support may be the outcome toward which Democrats have been funneling their political capital.
Shutdowns, while not regularly scheduled, have happened in our history. When two sides of a negotiating table are time zones apart in demands, in vision, in style of negotiation, in priorities, and in mindset, it becomes difficult for anything to be ratified, much less many things. They must meet up somewhere, though, or nothing whatsoever gets accomplished. Aspersion should not be cast upon conscience-led decision-making. There have been times when Republicans have slowed progress on initiatives due to conscientious objections. More does seem to be going on with this one. When Democrats held a majority in the Senate, most recently, little seemed to get done. Now, with the current composition of members, Democrats seem to be continuing the pattern of slowing productive business.
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Minority powers should not be abused. They are there to protect the legislative branch of the government and thereby the people from one-party rule, not for one party to use them to rule.
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