The White
House thought the shutdown would be quick. Now they’re frustrated.
White
House officials, at the start of the shutdown, were certain the Trump
administration was better positioned to battle the left during a funding lapse.
By Myah
Ward, Alex Gangitano and Dasha Burns
10/31/2025
06:29 PM EDT
In early
October, several Trump administration officials had a friendly pool going of
how long the shutdown would last. The White House, at the time, was confident
Democrats would quickly fold.
No one
guessed more than 10 days.
The
account, relayed by a person close to the White House granted anonymity to
discuss internal thinking, underscores just how much the administration
miscalculated the Democrats’ will to keep the government closed even amid
furloughs and imperiled social programs like food assistance.
As the
shutdown heads into its second month, President Donald Trump is increasingly
frustrated. On Thursday, he called for Republicans to abolish the filibuster to
reopen the government — a plea he knows is futile, but that demonstrates his
growing irritation with Democrats, said a second person close to the White
House.
“Trump,
he’s had it with these people, because he knows they’re playing politics,” said
the second person. “Nobody thought it was going to last this long.”
When the
shutdown began, White House officials were certain the Trump administration was
better positioned to battle the left during a funding lapse.
Trump and
his top aides thought that unpaid federal workers, closed and limited federal
facilities and threats of ever-more job cuts from Russ Vought, the director of
the Office of Management and Budget, would be too much for Democrats to handle.
They were
buoyed when two moderate Democrats — Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and
John Fetterman (D-Pa.) — and Independent Angus King voted with Republicans two
days into the shutdown.
But not
much has changed since, and it is almost certain that this will be the longest
shutdown in history, surpassing the record set during Trump’s first term. And
as the impasse has carried on, the pressures are piling up for both parties:
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which helps millions afford
food, without intervention will run out of money this weekend. Many civilian
employees missed their first full paycheck this week. Federal funding will stop
flowing Saturday to some early childhood education programs. Air traffic delays
due to spotty staffing could worsen as Thanksgiving approaches.
The White
House throughout has blamed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democrats’
intransigence, attempting to tie their desire to extend certain Obamacare
subsidies to unpopular policies such as providing free health care to
undocumented immigrants and allowing boys to play in girls sports.
But it
hasn’t gone as planned, leaving Trump to call for a change in Senate rules that
would allow legislation, including an end to the shut down, to pass with just a
simple majority.
“INITIATE
THE NUCLEAR OPTION” and abolish the filibuster to end the shutdown, Trump wrote
on Truth Social after landing back in the U.S. on Thursday.
The
president on Friday had wanted to speak to reporters about what he viewed as a
successful trip to Asia where he secured trillions of dollars in new
investments for America. He seemed annoyed at answering questions about the
shutdown.
“The
Democrats just don’t know what they’re doing,” Trump told reporters Friday. “I
don’t know what’s wrong with them. They’ve never done a thing like this.
They’ve become crazed lunatics. All they have to do is say, ‘Let’s go. Let’s
open up our country.’ And everything snaps back into shape. So there’s
something wrong with them.”
“It’s
their fault. Everything is their fault. It’s so easily solved,” he said,
insisting again that he won’t meet with Democratic leadership until the
government reopens.
Trump’s
call to end the filibuster comes after Republicans, just this week, projected
cautious optimism amid brewing bipartisan talks, and as a new poll shows more
Americans blame the GOP for the shutdown.
But the
president reiterated Friday that he has no plans to invite Democrats to the
Oval Office to discuss an off-ramp, a meeting Trump aides view as a rescue
mission they’re not willing to offer unless the government is reopened. And
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said “Democrats won’t do what’s best
for the American people, the nuclear option will need to be invoked,” referring
to ending the filibuster rule.
One
person close to Trump, granted anonymity to discuss the president’s thinking,
said that while Trump is serious about wanting to eliminate the filibuster, he
“knows it’s not going to happen.”
And
Republicans on Friday quickly tamped down Trump’s call, including Majority
Leader John Thune of South Dakota, whose office told POLITICO that his
“position on the importance of the legislative filibuster is unchanged.”
“It’s not
going to happen,” said the second person close to the White House. “I think
it’s all about, just the art of the deal, and trying to point out that the
Democrats — it’s the only reason we can’t open the government back up.”
Democratic
leaders, for their part, have pushed back on the idea that there’s any progress
in negotiations on Capitol Hill, with Schumer telling reporters Thursday that
Republicans haven’t brought any new offers to the table to address Democrats’
primary concern — an extension of Affordable Care Act Subsidies.
The SNAP
funding deadline on Nov. 1 has been another pressure point on both parties. A
federal judge on Friday directed the Trump administration to use emergency
money to fund the November food aid benefits for millions of Americans. The
Trump administration has not yet indicated whether it will appeal the ruling,
and the White House deferred to the Office of Management and Budget on its
plan. OMB did not respond to a request for comment.
“Good.
Trump’s decision to cut off SNAP was vindictive and heartless,” Schumer said in
a post on X responding to the ruling. “He was trying to manufacture a hunger
crisis so he wouldn’t have to fix healthcare.”
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário