Copyright Hartford Courant
By Kevin Tampone, syracuse.com Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said in an interview over the weekend that he believes President Donald Trump likes the fact that the government is closed. Trump believes he can exercise “king-like” powers during the shutdown, opening parts of the government he wants and paying employees he believes are loyal to him, Murphy said during a Sunday interview with CNN’s State of the Union, according to The Hill. “I mean, this is a leader who is trying to transition our government from a democracy to something much closer to a totalitarian state,” Murphy said. “And so this is part of what happens in totalitarian states. The leader, the regime only, decides what things get funded and what don’t, often in coordination with their oligarch friends.” The federal government shut down earlier this month after Republicans and Democrats failed to pass legislation to extend funding. Republicans in the House of Representatives passed a bill extending government funding temporarily before the shutdown occurred. But Democrats are pushing for a deal on expiring health care subsidies in exchange for their votes, which are required to advance a funding bill in the Senate. Republicans have said the subsidy issue can be dealt with at a later date, according to Politico. Murphy suggested on State of the Union that a deal to reopen the government could be reached for about $20 billion, which is a far lower amount than previously requested, according to the New York Post. Democratic leaders previously demanded a permanent extension of the expiring health care subsidies, along with other concessions that would cost about $1.5 trillion over the next decade, the Post said. “We could probably come up with something pretty quickly,” Murphy said Sunday. “The president just announced $20 billion going to bail out the Argentinian economy. “For $20 billion, we could open the government back up. That’s enough money to relieve a lot of pressure. We can get this deal done in a day.” Murphy is a member of the Senate’s Democratic leadership as deputy conference secretary. ©2025 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit syracuse.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
