Journalist’s notebook note: the fight against the government’s closure reveals deep divisions of the Democratic Party

It is often difficult to separate noise from the signal into politics.

The noise is that Congress Democrats fight President Donald Trump and the Republicans for public closure and health expenses.

The signal is rough. But if you turn the silence button, you can detect the signal.

We will not know who “wins” or is “blamed” for a closure of the government for weeks. But the government’s closure will probably tell us a lot about the future of the Democratic Party.

Journalist’s notebook note: Trump has a bipartite meeting with the leaders of the Congress while the closure on Wednesday is looming

President Donald Trump speaks to media members as he left the White House on September 26, 2025 in Washington, DC (Images Kevin Dietsch / Getty)

The progressives have excited the chief of the minorities of the Senate Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., in March, when he reluctantly supplied democratic votes to break an obstacle to avoid a closure of the government.

The Democrats on both sides of Capitol Hill were apoplectic. They felt betrayed by Schumer. The New York Democrat gave in to the Republicans to avoid closing without pocket the political concessions in return. At the time, Schumer said that a closure under these conditions would be worse. Elon Musk was busy spinning the federal government. To hear Schumer say, Musk can try to prevent parts of the federal government from opening again.

The progressives fell to Schumer. Some have called for a new leadership.

“There was a disappointment because Schumer said that he was going to vote against, then he voted for that,” said representative Suhas Subramanyam, D-VA., In Fox. “So there was a certain confusion about the reason he would do this.”

Note-noted of the journalist: the closure of the government chances of the chances of the astronomical while the Congress heads towards the deadline

The leader of the Senate minority, Charles Schumer, and the minority head of the Hakeem Jeffries room maintained at a press conference at the American Capitol on June 11, 2025 in Washington, DC (Images Kevin Dietsch / Getty)

The head of the minority of the Hakeem Jeffries room, DN.Y., and other best democrats obtained the movement of Schumer’s march. A republican source of the senior chamber recently told Fox that they had been amazed that the government was not closed earlier this year – surprised by Schumer de Caverner’s decision.

And so the liberals thought that Schumer had perhaps exceeded his welcome, and it was time to move on.

Schumer did not give the votes necessary to avoid a closure when the Senate made a test vote to open the way to the bill on provisional expenses approved by the Chamber a week ago and a half. So it made Schumer an easy target of the right. In addition, calling it the “Schumer Stowdown” is alliterative. It rolls the tongue and easy for the GOP to characterize what is going on.

This is why many Republicans – and some Democrats – hope that Schumer takes up a challenge of the representative Alexandria Ocasio -Cortez, DN.Y.

This explains how the Republicans are always trying to report a potential challenge to Schumer by Ocasio-Cortez. They portray Schumer as being in a tight place, having to call on the left -wing base of the Democratic Party. If the Democrats fall back, they face an avalanche of criticism from progressives.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., on the left, examines his notes during the testimony of Michael Cohen, the former lawyer for President Donald Trump, before the Chamber’s Supervisory and Reform Committee. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP Photo)

“This is why Jeffries and Schumer are between the two,” said representative Mike Lawler, Rn.y., on Fox. “Jeffries must worry about a primary next year and Schumer was able to worry about the AOC in 2028.”

The Ocasio-Cortez star could shine as Schumer’s can decrease. It deploys a rhetoric that calls on the liberals by speaking of Trump during a recent meeting of the town hall.

“The authorities are based on the perception of power,” said Ocasio-Cortez. “They need people to believe that they are more powerful than they really are.”

How Schumer manages a possible closure could dictate the political future of Ocasio-Cortez. It’s not to say anything. Political observers systematically mention Ocasio-Cortez among the four main candidates for the potential democratic presidential election, if it were to lead in 2028. No one in the Democratic Party can produce a crowd like Ocasio-Cortez. The same with fundraising.

This is why the Republicans believe that Schumer’s resistance depends on self-service.

Garbage collection, visits to hang in Capitol Hill if there is a government closure

The head of the Senate minority, Chuck Schumer, Dn.y., turned to an assistant at a press conference in Capitol in Washington on June 3, 2025. (J. Scott Applewhite / AP)

“You have seen the Senator Schumer survey numbers. He has biting his heels,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Fox.

Not everyone buys the GOP line that Schumer tries to finance government funding around their own political fortunes.

“Do you think that leader Schumer feels left steps with Ocasio-Cortez?” Jeffries really asked yours.

“The leader Schumer is not even ready to re -elect in 2026,” replied Jeffries.

In any case, the Democrats have had trouble since the elections on how to connect with their voters and fight Trump.

“They just want to be perceived as a Trump fighter,” said senator Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., On Fox. “Chuck Schumer is afraid of his own shadow at this stage. They want to be perceived as resistance more than a party that is ready to govern.”

And since many Democrats are not satisfied with how their party retaliated to Trump …

There are few inflection points during a two -year congress. A skirmish on the financing of the government is one of them. Democrats must therefore seize the opportunity.

But there is something cunning in the strategy of democrats, which is not necessarily obvious to the occasional observer.

Fighting on “government financing” and “avoiding government closure” are not terribly obliging to most voters. Yes, Democrats will talk about the possibility of a closure that has an impact on federal workers and the transition of the economy in uncertainty. And the Democrats always seem to rotate their arguments on Trump with concerns concerning “instability” and “chaos”, be it the financing of the government or say, prices.

US Capitol Building in Sunset on January 30, 2025. (Emma Woodhead / Fox News Digital)

However, it is not surprising that Democrats are trying to convert the closure to something more tangible for millions of Americans: the high cost of health care coverage.

“The Republicans have refused to extend tax credits on affordable care law, and as a result, millions of American class Americans will experience soaring premiums, co-paids and franchises at a time when America is already too expensive,” said Jeffries.

First, the Democrats put pressure for a restoration of what they say to be reductions in the federal benefits of health care as part of the one, a large and beautiful bill. At first glance, government funding has nothing to do with what the Republicans of Congress approved under the characteristic of Trump’s legislative program. But, as we said, it is one of these inflection points. It is therefore an opportunity for Democrats to highlight what the Republicans have passed and to portray it as a negative before the mid -2026.

Second, Democrats put pressure on the renewal of subsidies in Obamacare in order to make health costs more affordable. If the Congress fails to act, costs increase for tens of millions of Americans. Certainly, these subsidies do not express until the end of the calendar year. Not the exercise of the government on October 1. But households will soon begin to receive opinions by post on potential price increases. It is time for the arrival of these opinions with a closure of the prolonged government and democratic arguments could start to resonate with voters.

And while the votes of the Democrats are essential to break an obedium on a possible agreement, the Democrats are sure to remind voters which party is in charge of Washington at the moment.

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President Mike Johnson, on the left, and the chief of the minority Hakeem Jeffries were represented in July 2024. (Getty Images)

“The Republicans control the Chamber and the Senate. And there is a republican president. If the government stops, it is because the Republicans want to close the government,” said Jeffries.

Many noise will consume the bandwidth of Washington in the event of government closure. The sides will project the aspersions. They will blame themselves. They want to see who the arguments resonate with people.

But if you cut the noise, you can detect the signal. It can appear over a low and scraping wavelength. But a large part of the fight against a closure focuses on how democrats try to land against Trump, consolidate their base and settle for an approach for 2026.