Copyright dailymail
A high-ranking Democrat appears to have admitted an inconvenient truth about the government shutdown that has officially entered its fourth week. Massachusetts Representative Katherine Clark, who is the Minority Whip of the United States House of Representatives, admitted that she views families struggling during the shutdown as 'leverage' for her party to use in political games. '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. Clark's comments, made during an interview with Fox News Channel’s Senior Congressional Correspondent Chad Pergram last week, were rebuked on Tuesday by several congressional Republicans and also played in the White House press briefing room. White House reporters were surprised to see the video pop up on the briefing screens, but it played throughout the day as they passed through. Wisconsin Republican Congressman Derrick Van Orden wrote on X, 'This is exactly what Chuck Schumer meant when he said, "Every day gets better for us."' Texas GOP Senator John Cornyn noted in his own X post, 'It is shameful to use the American people as leverage to push your radical agenda. Millions of Americans are suffering, also adding, "Democrats don't care."' Iowa Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who represents one of the most competitive House seats, called Clark's comments 'disgraceful', also stating that the 'Democrat leaders are perfectly okay with American families suffering.' Clark's comments come as nearly half of Americans say that the shutdown has had no impact on their lives. An Economist/YouGov poll conducted from October 17th to 20th that garnered 1,621 responses showed that 49 percent of Americans say the shutdown is 'not at all' affecting them personally. Last week, Donald Trump ordered members of the military to receive pay during the government shutdown. The president has ruled that they will be paid using any available funds from the Fiscal Year 2026 budget that Congress has already appropriated. Republicans have supported a short-term measure to fund the government generally at current levels through November 21 but Democrats blocked it, insisting the measure address their concerns on health care. On October 1, the first day of the shutdown, the President said he would with meet with Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought 'to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent.' Vought told House Republicans that many of those workers would be targeted for permanent layoffs to be announced in the next day or two, echoing Trump spokesman Karoline Leavitt's threat that firings were 'imminent.' Trump has emphasized that he views cutbacks as a way of increasing pain on Democrats, arguing that 'we can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible by them. Like cutting vast numbers of people out.' But the messaging on layoffs has been mixed, with Vice-President JD Vance saying that workforce reductions are a necessary evil that the administration would rather avoid. Vance told reporters federal agencies were not being targeted based on politics, but added: 'Let's be honest - if this thing drags on for another few days or, God forbid, another few weeks, we are going to have to lay people off.' Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his House of Representatives counterpart Hakeem Jeffries have dismissed the threats of layoffs as an attempt at intimidation and said mass firings would not stand up in court. Three Senate Democrats have broke with their colleagues to fund the government, but the rest have been voting against a House-passed resolution to keep the government funded. For now, Democrats are dug in on their demands for extending healthcare subsidies before they will agree to a funding deal. Five additional Democratic votes would be needed to reach the 60-vote threshold in the 100-member Senate to green-light the House-passed bill. House Republican Speaker Mike Johnson noted Tuesday that 'Democrats in Congress have voted 12 times to keep the government closed down.
