- by foxnews
- 15 Mar 2025
"This is a democracy, and in a democracy, hostage tactics are the last resort for those who can't win their fights through elections, can't win their fights in Congress, can't win their fights for the presidency, and can't win their fights in the courts," Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said in a clip included in the White House video.
"To hold these people hostage instead of just letting them do their jobs, which they want to do while we work out our differences. So wrong." declared Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in a 2019 video, referring to furloughed federal employees.
A Trump administration official told Fox News Digital Thursday that Democrat "hypocrisy" and "hatred for Donald Trump" has "overpowered" the party's common sense.
The more than two-minute video included clips from Sens. Schumer, Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, Jack Reed, Corey Booker, Tim Kaine, Chris Murphy, Adam Schiff and Amy Klobuchar railing against previous shutdowns or threats of government shutdowns.
The Trump administration official added in comment to Fox Digital that Democrats' threats of a shutdown are "purely political theater" and attempts to grandstand.
"Make no mistake: Democrats' threats of a Schumer Shutdown are purely political theater," the official said. "As President Trump works to fulfill his mandate to the American people, Senate Democrats are grandstanding against a measure to keep the government open - one that supports veterans' benefits and military pay increases."
The House passed a Trump-backed federal funding bill Tuesday, largely along partisan lines in a 217 to 213 vote. The bill would fund the federal government through the end of September.
Senate Democrats are reportedly at odds on how to proceed, sources told Fox News Digital this week.
"They've been debating what to do, and there's been people who feel strongly on both sides," a Democratic source familiar told Fox News Digital, in reference to several lengthy Senate Democratic caucus meetings in the past couple days.
"This is a shutdown bill that's bad for the economy - let Trump shutdown whatever he wants," Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said Sunday. "Hurting everyday folks to use money for tax breaks for the uber-rich. Hell no!"
Meanwhile, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., was heard by the media screaming inside a private lunch with Senate Democrats on Thursday, which lasted more than an hour.
Gillibrand also was included in the White House highlight reel, where she slammed the 2019 government shutdown as risking children "going to bed hungry."
"If this shutdown continues indefinitely, 39 million Americans will risk not having enough food. They will lose their SNAP benefits in February, so that means American children will be going to bed hungry. It's unacceptable," she said in the video clip.
Fox News Digital's Julia Johnson and Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.
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