Democrats love to claim they’re the party of “compassion,” but few moments strip away that illusion more brutally than a government shutdown. And make no mistake about it, the ongoing Schumer Shutdown is shaping up to be a masterclass in how far they’re willing to go to preserve their grip on power and push their radical wish list. With hundreds of thousands of federal workers either furloughed or working without pay — and air travel being thrown into chaos with thousands of flights delayed or canceled due to shortages of air traffic controllers — Democrats aren’t blinking. In fact, they’re digging in.
A senior Democratic aide told CNN the party isn’t ending the shutdown until Republicans give them exactly what they want—namely, free health care for illegal immigrants, extensions of Obamacare subsidies, and bunch of other radical priorities, to the tune of $1.5 trillion.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) recently outlined on the Senate floor some of the foreign funding priorities that Democrats are holding the government hostage over. Among them: $3 million for circumcisions and vasectomies in Zambia, $500,000 for electric buses in Rwanda, and $3.6 million for pastry classes and dance focus groups targeting male sex workers in Haiti. He also cited $6 million for media groups supporting Palestinians, $833,000 for transgender programs in Nepal, $300,000 for a pride parade in Lesotho, $882,000 for social media mentorship in Serbia, and $4.2 million for LGBTQI initiatives across the Western Balkans and Uganda.
In a jaw-dropping remark, that same aide declared the Democrats won’t budge “short of planes falling out of the sky.” It wasn’t a slip of the tongue, it was a window into their mindset. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called the comment “one of the most disgusting statements” she’s ever read, and she’s right.
🚨Wow.
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) October 10, 2025
Democrats are now saying that unless “planes are falling out of the sky” because of air traffic controller staffing shortages — they will not end their government shutdown.
One of the most disgusting statements I’ve ever read. pic.twitter.com/UqSs2euioP
Pain for you is leverage for them. That’s not negotiating; that’s hostage-taking.
If this all sounds familiar, it’s because it is. Barack Obama perfected the art of weaponizing shutdowns, famously closing national parks in 2013 just to make the shutdown as painful as possible, betting the public would blame Republicans. Today’s Democrats are deploying an updated version of the same playbook: put TSA workers in impossible positions, risk military personnel missing paychecks for the first time in modern history, and then point fingers at the GOP.
Related: Democrats Force Military Service Members to Rely on Food Banks
What’s striking is that even some Democrats are privately admitting they might be playing with fire — worried that their stubborn refusal to compromise could backfire and damage their brand. Public polling isn’t giving them the surefire win they expected. Yes, some polls show Republicans taking more blame, but others show Democrats lumped in equally, or even carrying the larger share of responsibility.
A new Harvard/Harris survey makes one thing crystal clear: the public is fed up with the shutdown and wants Democrats to stop holding the country hostage. Respondents were asked, “Should the Democrats end the shutdown by accepting a continuing resolution at current levels of expenditure until the actual spending bills are passed, or should the Democrats hold out until they get additional funds for Obamacare?”
The results are decisive. 65% said Democrats should accept the GOP’s continuing resolution, keeping spending at current levels. Just 35% supported holding out for extra funding. The message is loud and clear: Americans want the shutdown over, not more political brinkmanship, but Democrats don’t care, as long as they believe they are benefitting politically from it.
Shutdowns expose the worst instincts of the Democrats. They posture as defenders of the common man while cheerfully holding his livelihood hostage. This isn’t about governance — it’s about power. It’s about advancing an agenda stuffed with fringe priorities wrapped in the language of “healthcare protection.” And if the cost is empty bank accounts for service members, chaos in airports, and suffering for everyday Americans? So be it. That’s the cold calculation. And once again, it’s proof that when push comes to shove, Democrats care far more about themselves and their radical ideology than the nation they’re supposed to serve.
