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Tap here to get this newsletter delivered to your inbox. The current federal government shutdown is now over four weeks old, making it the second-longest shutdown in history. In recent days, the left-wing/Democratic Party side of the ledger has begun to fracture. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), increasingly a rare voice of relative sanity within his leftward-drifting party, conceded last weekend: “I do believe that there’s a critical mass of my fellow Democrats that are dug in until there’s an absolute ironclad kind of a deal.” He continued, speaking directly to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.): “Let’s just open it up.” Not to be outdone, the president of the nation’s largest public-sector employee union, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), also chimed in and called for Schumer and Jeffries to end the shutdown. That the Democrats and their outside allies are in a curious—indeed, perilous—negotiating position on the present shutdown standoff was as easy to foresee as basic arithmetic: Democrats are in the minority in both houses of Congress, and they do not control the White House either. It is axiomatic that, in any such shutdown fight, the minority party will struggle to achieve its professed goals. In order to successfully extract any concessions in such a scenario, the minority party must articulate clear goals, those goals must politically resonate with voters, and the coalition must stand together. The simple problem is that Democrats have not done any of those things. Can anyone actually explain, perhaps in an “elevator pitch”-style brief synopsis, what exactly is the Democrats’ present stance on the shutdown fight? I asked the question to Larry Kudlow on Fox Business a couple of weeks ago, in part because I am genuinely unsure that I understand it myself. Frankly, I’m still not entirely sure that I do! The basic debate ostensibly revolves around the renewal of expiring Obamacare subsidies, but is that seriously such a politically salient and pressing issue that it requires shutting down the government for over four weeks? The answer is obvious: No, it is not. And the utter inanity of the Democrats’ “position” is, in fact, the reason their coalition is now fracturing. One directly leads to the other. At this point, this is pure theater from Schumer, Jeffries, and the rest of the obstinate Democratic Party leaders. They’ve found themselves in an unwinnable position and they have no viable off-ramp. The problem is that real Americans are going to start feeling the pain soon: Food stamps will run out within the next week, and active-duty service members will run the risk of not being paid by mid-November. This is atrocious. The failure to pay active-duty U.S. Armed Forces service members would be a glaring eyesore on the nation’s moral conscience. It simply cannot happen. Far be it from me to say, but Fetterman and the president of AFGE have it right in this case: Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, end this utterly pointless and stupid shutdown now. To keep up with me, follow me on Twitter/X, Instagram, and Facebook. You can listen to all episodes of “The Josh Hammer Show” at the Newsweekwebsite or on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts—as well as select radio stations across the country. Make sure to also order my book, Israel and Civilization: The Fate of the Jewish Nation and the Destiny of the West! (Signed copies are available for purchase!) Our additional highlighted recent Newsweek op-eds include selections from various Republican congressmen, Mark Joseph, and Paul du Quenoy. Have a great rest of your week! We’ll see you again next week. French police officers stand in front of the Louvre Museum after robbery, in Paris on October 19, 2025. Robbers broke in to the Louvre and fled with jewellery on October 19, 2025 morning, a source close to the case said, adding that its value was still being evaluated. A police source said an unknown number of thieves arrived on a scooter armed with small chainsaws and used a goods lift to reach the room they were targeting. (Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP) / — IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE — Louvre Heist Encapsulates a Western Culture That Will Not Defend Itself I write from a quiet, mountainous part of Central Europe. The scenery is idyllic, and the fall air is crisp. But much as the case has been in my other recent trips to the European continent, the sights I see and the conversations I hear are all underscored by a similar haunting concern: Will there even be a Europe, in any cognizable sense of the term, a centu...
