“EVERY DAY GETS BETTER”
A bipartisan House bill that would guarantee the pay of 1.3 million active-duty service members through the shutdown has around 150 co-sponsors.
But Republican leaders oppose bringing it to the floor for a vote – insisting that the armed forces will be paid if Democrats simply provide the votes to end the shutdown.
“The President has made it clear: we must pay our troops,” the bill’s author, Republican congresswoman Jen Kiggans, posted on X.
Democrats – emboldened by polling showing voters mostly blaming the shutdown on Republicans – are banking on increasing public support in a prolonged standoff.
“Every day gets better for us,” Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told Punchbowl News.
“It’s because we’ve thought about this long in advance and we knew that healthcare would be the focal point on Sep 30 and we prepared for it. Their whole theory was threaten us, bamboozle us, and we would submit in a day or two.”
As well as widespread cuts, Trump’s “maximum pain” campaign to force Democrats to fold has included threats to fire thousands of furloughed workers.
“We’ll be cutting some very popular Democrat programmes that aren’t popular with Republicans, frankly, because that’s the way it works,” Trump said at his Cabinet meeting.
“They wanted to do this, so we’ll give them a little taste of their own medicine.”
