In a stunning admission, Democratic Whip of the U.S. House of Representatives Katherine Clark revealed that American families will have to endure the hardships of a government shutdown to give Democrats the political "leverage" they need.
"Shutdowns are terrible. And of course there will be families that are going to suffer. We take that responsibility very seriously, but it is one of the few leverage times we have," Clark said in a recent interview with Fox News.
This admission came amid the ongoing government shutdown, which has stretched into the longest full shutdown in American history. Democrats, led by Clark and others, have refused to sign onto a clean continuing resolution that would keep the government running at current spending levels. Such a resolution would allow for negotiations on spending changes later in the appropriations period—something Democrats previously supported 13 times under the Biden administration.
House Speaker Mike Johnson criticized Democrats for prolonging the shutdown, noting that Senate Democrats voted multiple times to keep the government closed, contributing to the extended pain for American families. "And yet again, Senate Democrats voted for the 11th time—12 times overall—to prolong the pain and keep the government closed," Johnson said.
President Donald Trump didn’t mince words either, accusing Democrats of “holding the entire federal government hostage,” and declaring, “We will not be extorted on this crazy plot of theirs.”
The root of the standoff is a set of policy demands by Democrats, including adding $1.5 trillion in spending, with a portion allocated to outlets like NPR and PBS. They also aim to reinstate free health care for illegal aliens, including those paroled into the U.S. under the Biden administration.
At the center of this debate is Subtitle B in Title VII of the One Big Beautiful Bill, which Democrats want to rescind. This provision currently limits the eligibility for government health care benefits to Americans, lawful permanent residents, certain Cuban and Haitian immigrants, and migrants lawfully residing in the U.S. under compact agreements. Democrats aim to expand eligibility by removing restrictions that prevent some noncitizens—such as those granted parole, including Nicaraguans and Venezuelans—from accessing taxpayer-funded health care.
Democrats, it seems, are willing to let American families “suffer” in order to push through their political agenda, with the hope that the shutdown will give them enough leverage to secure these policy victories. The question now is whether they’ll face any political consequences for using American families as bargaining chips in their quest for expanded government spending and benefits for noncitizens.
