The upcoming government shutdown features a uniquely perplexing strategy from the Trump administration, leading some to suggest a touch of delusion in their outlook.
Support independent news and opinion by subscribing to PoliticusUSA.
A White House official, granted anonymity to freely discuss strategy, shared with Politico:
“We’re going to extract maximum pain,” elaborated the official, adding that Democrats “will pay a huge price for this.”
“Historically, the aggressor always loses,” continued the senior White House figure. “And simply put, their constituencies and priorities will take a hit while ours will emerge relatively unscathed.”
Interestingly, government shutdowns seem to follow a naming convention that effectively paints the sitting president into a corner. There was the infamous Clinton shutdown, the Obama shutdown, and of course, the Trump shutdown.
The theory suggesting that the 2025 shutdown will escape this historical branding seems rather fanciful, particularly given Trump’s plummeting approval ratings—it’s a downward trend more dramatic than a soap opera plot twist.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson seems to be setting his course by Trump’s dubious compass, with reports from Jake Sherman at Punchbowl News suggesting:
“House Republican leadership may not bring the House back AT ALL next week. They think the ball is in the Senate’s court, and they will return only when there is a bill to pass.”
By sticking to a strategy that looks strikingly like adherence to Trump’s infamous “Kool-Aid” doctrine, Johnson seems to believe he can leverage a House shutdown to wring concessions from Senate Democrats.
However, this approach raises a significant dilemma. The long-standing narrative suggests that shutdowns have a way of backfiring on those initiating them, especially when public sentiment can quickly sway with the successful narrative framing by the opposition. Will this time be any different, or is history destined to repeat itself, much like a badly scripted sequel?
