Democrats Are Under Pressure to Hold the Line on Government Funding

The stakes are a lot higher than they were in March, strategists, pollsters and activists say.

Chuck Schumer, Mike Johnson
J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Progressive grassroots organizations say they’ve learned a lesson from congressional Democrats’ last government shutdown fight: to trust no one.

These groups want Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to commit to firmer redlines this time around, mounting a pressure campaign to ensure that September plays out differently than March did.

“March for us was hair-on-fire frustrating,” Andrew O’Neill, director of advocacy at Indivisible, told NOTUS. “We were told for weeks, ‘Yeah, yeah, we’ve got a plan. We’re going to fight.’ And we said, ‘OK, great. We really want to see it, like, what’s the plan?’”