CD323: Shutdown Bad

Interactive Transcript

spk_0 And now, after watching the Republicans shut down the government to get dingleberries into

spk_0 law, the Democrats are prepared to shut down the government to get dingleberries into

spk_0 law.

spk_0 Although this one is even more stupid because this strategy has never even worked for Republicans.

spk_0 As you heard from Jim a government in 2018, Democrats have long argued that shutdowns

spk_0 are unfair to workers and that the government shouldn't be used as leverage to get partisan

spk_0 policies into law and that shutdowns as leverage don't work.

spk_0 And yet, here they are, using government as leverage to get partisan policies into law

spk_0 regardless of workers and the total failure of the strategy ever working in the past.

spk_0 The hypocrisy of the Democrats is just overwhelming.

spk_0 Hello, my friend and thank you for listening to the 323th episode of Congressional

spk_0 Dish. I'm your host Jennifer Briny.

spk_0 And today's episode is a warning.

spk_0 Because as I record this on Tuesday, September 23rd, our Congress is not working and we are on

spk_0 the verge of a government shutdown. And I feel like I'm losing my mind because a shutdown at

spk_0 this particular moment in time is extraordinarily dangerous. And right now the Democrats and Congress

spk_0 have the power to stop it. In the 119th Congress, which is fully controlled by the Republicans,

spk_0 Democrats have had very little power to do anything. But keeping the government open,

spk_0 this, they can do. And yet there is a very real chance that they are going to instead use their

spk_0 power to shut the government down and hope that we will all blame Republicans.

spk_0 And to be fair, Republicans have taken the blame for every other shutdown that's occurred in

spk_0 the last quarter century. But the reason for that was because in those shutdowns,

spk_0 the Republicans tried to hold the government hostage in order to get some of their partisan goals

spk_0 signed into law attached to the must-sign government funding. But this time, it's the Democrats

spk_0 who are doing that. And in pursuit of partisan dingleberries, they are putting our government in

spk_0 grave danger. And so today, I'm going to tell you why I say that. Specifically, today, you are going

spk_0 to learn the stories of the last few shutdowns and why Democrats think that history will repeat

spk_0 itself in their favor and why I think they are very wrong. And I will also prepare you for what

spk_0 the consequences of a shutdown will be and why this shutdown could possibly be far more dangerous

spk_0 than any we have experienced in the past. And I want to do this right now because we still have time

spk_0 to stop this. The shutdown begins at midnight on September 30, which should be six days after I

spk_0 released this episode. And maybe some people who will hear this will call their Democrats

spk_0 and tell them to walk us away from this precipice. Because like I said, they have the power to do so.

spk_0 But even if I can't stop the shutdown, at least I can make my case in public. Or at the very least,

spk_0 have this on record so that I can say I told you so. But either way, I'm going to say my peace.

spk_0 And so first, let's do a quick review of why we are on the verge of a federal government shutdown.

spk_0 So government shutdowns occur when Congress fails to do its most basic job and fund the government

spk_0 for the following year on time. And the deadline is always the same every year. It's always September 30.

spk_0 And yet Congress has failed to fully meet that deadline every year since 1996.

spk_0 And usually when this happens with a handful of shutdown exceptions, when their deadline is missed,

spk_0 Congress passes in the president's signs what is known as a continuing resolution,

spk_0 as in a resolution that continues government funding at current levels until Congress can

spk_0 finish a homework. We have been operating under a continuing resolution the whole year since the

spk_0 Biden administration. And so another continuing resolution would continue many Democratic party

spk_0 negotiated spending levels. FYI. But right now there is drama because while the House Republicans

spk_0 in a very uncharacteristic move for this bunch, the House Republicans have passed a continuing

spk_0 resolution that would fund the government until mid-November. But Senate Democrats are refusing to

spk_0 let it pass the Senate unless they can get some policy and funding changes attached. Changes that

spk_0 President Trump would not be willing to sign into law outside of an emergency situation.

spk_0 Basically, the Democrats are trying to use the threat of a government shutdown as leverage

spk_0 to attach dingleberries to the funding law. And we've seen this strategy before.

spk_0 Republicans in the recent past have tried to get dingleberries attached to continuing resolutions,

spk_0 and to remind myself of how that worked out for them at the time, I turned to the only person

spk_0 that I really trust right now to tell me what happened in the past. And that person is me.

spk_0 Because I've been producing this podcast long enough that I was recording podcasts during the

spk_0 last two extended government shutdowns in October of 2013, and during the longest shutdown in

spk_0 US history, which happened last time we had a president Trump. And so first, this first clip,

spk_0 we're going to go back in time now, to episode number 46 of Congressional Dish, it's called Shutdown

spk_0 Assured. And this is what I said in that episode a few days before the 2013 shutdown.

spk_0 And so what we have going on right now is that Congress needs to give themselves an extension,

spk_0 extra time to finish their homework because they suck and didn't do their job right.

spk_0 So what should be happening right now is that a bill that just extends the 2013 funding levels

spk_0 should pass the house and then the Senate and then go to the president to be signed. Easy,

spk_0 peasy, taco, squeezy. But that's not what's happening because the Republican Party sees this as

spk_0 an excellent opportunity to get things signed into law that couldn't be signed into law otherwise

spk_0 by attaching it to this must signed bill because you see the Republican Party has voted since they

spk_0 took control of the house, they have voted over and over and over and over and over and over and over

spk_0 and over and over and over and over and over again to sabotage a bomb a care in a bunch of different

spk_0 ways. But none of those bills have been signed into law because we elected Democrats to run the Senate

spk_0 and Barack Obama care to be the president. So he's not signing this stuff into law so the only way

spk_0 they're going to get to sabotage the Affordable Care Act is if they do it through attaching

spk_0 something to must sign legislation. And in the following episode, the 47th episode of Congressional

spk_0 Dish, here's who I blamed after the government shut down. But in this particular

spk_0 instance when it comes to the government shutdown, this is the House Republic and Spalt.

spk_0 It is the fault of one party in one branch of government, the Republicans in the House.

spk_0 And in the end, after 16 days, the Senate's clean version without the Obama care damaging

spk_0 dingleberries was signed into law because the American people blamed the House Republicans

spk_0 just like I did. In other words, the people attempting to attaching dingleberry got nothing except blame.

spk_0 So now let's fast forward to 2018. We are now in the first Trump administration. And in Congressional

spk_0 Dish number 188, I called it welcome to the 116th Congress because it was the beginning of the Congress,

spk_0 well that episode was recorded in January 2019 in the middle of the longest government shutdown in

spk_0 US history. And here's the situation on the day that I recorded.

spk_0 Seven out of the 12 segments of government are currently shut down and have been shut down for

spk_0 three weeks now. As of this recording, I'm recording this on January 11th, this now ties for the longest

spk_0 shutdown in US history. And the House and Senate have both gone home for the weekend. So we are

spk_0 definitely going to set records here in the worst way in the beginning of the 116th Congress.

spk_0 And so further on in that episode, I told the story of how that shutdown started. And part of that

spk_0 story was that right before the shutdown, there was an emergency meeting in the House Rules Committee.

spk_0 As one might expect, there would be. Except that emergency meeting wasn't about the

spk_0 looming government funding crisis. It was an emergency meeting designed to set up a vote on a bill

spk_0 about cheese. So that was weird. But that's actually not the point of the clip that I'm about to

spk_0 play for you. What I want you to hear is the conversation that took place in that cheesy emergency

spk_0 meeting between Republican with the Texas accent, Pete Sessions and Democrat Jim McGovern.

spk_0 They are both still in the House of Representatives. And I just want you to pay special attention to the

spk_0 arguments being made by Jim McGovern, the Democrat of Massachusetts.

spk_0 My opinion, not one FBI agent special agent will be furloughed. Not one secret service special agent

spk_0 will be furloughed. They are considered essential employees to the United States.

spk_0 They won't be paid, Mr. Chairman. That's the issue. The opportunity for us to make sure that,

spk_0 as you know, we've never not paid these employees. And I'm sure that this will.

spk_0 Well, it's not a very nice Christmas gift to give to people who put their lives on the line to

spk_0 protect our society. They're not being paid. That's one thing to say. They're not going to go to work.

spk_0 Well, I didn't, I mean, I basically said that they were going to be forced to go without pay.

spk_0 Indicate, they would not be. Well, they will, they will go without pay. So I mean, I know, I know

spk_0 one of your members said that that's the price you pay for public service. But I'm sorry,

spk_0 these people put their lives on the line for us. And they are protecting our border,

spk_0 notwithstanding what the chairman said. And yet we are saying thank you by not, by potentially

spk_0 not paying them. And I find that objection. You can object all you want. I voted to make it happen.

spk_0 The Democrats in 2018 found it objectionable to make government workers come to work without pay.

spk_0 They objected to the Republicans trying to use government funding as a dingleberry vehicle.

spk_0 Because here's the rest of our flashback to 2019. Here's a reminder of why that shutdown became

spk_0 the longest shutdown in US history. What's so different about this shutdown and comparison to

spk_0 the others is that this isn't a product of congressional dysfunction. The Congress agreed to

spk_0 a solution. The House and the Senate passed an identical bill funding the government till February

spk_0 8th. This was done. This is Trump. He's digging in his heels on this $5 billion for a border

spk_0 wall or fence or whatever. And I don't know how this one ends because Donald Trump is such a weird

spk_0 dude and he's such a my way or the highway kind of guy. And in the end of that shutdown,

spk_0 with the entire country rightfully blaming him for trying to attach a dingleberry to government

spk_0 and causing the shutdown to continue, Donald Trump caved. He got no money for the border wall.

spk_0 At least not then. And God knows that he got that and more in the one big beautiful bill.

spk_0 But the point is that it was another Republican-slash-Trump attempt to get partisan dingleberries into

spk_0 funding. And once again, it failed. The American people have been consistent. We always blame the

spk_0 party attaching the dingleberries. And this time, the party with the dingleberry demands is the

spk_0 Democratic Party. And so here's what's going on as of this recording on Tuesday, September 23rd.

spk_0 The House of Representatives, controlled by Republicans, has passed a continuing resolution

spk_0 that extends the Biden era funding levels and priorities again until November 21st.

spk_0 It's kind of the best-case scenario bill for the Democrats. And the Republicans are calling

spk_0 their continuing resolution clean. And you know what? So am I. I read it. It extends the funding

spk_0 levels and the stuff that it adds is completely uncontroversial. So like the additions are that it

spk_0 would add $30 million to reimburse local law enforcement for lawmaker security. Fine.

spk_0 It adds an additional $28 million for Supreme Court security. Fine. It adds $30 million for executive

spk_0 branch protection. Fine. I'm happy to fund all of those things after Charlie Kirk's assassination.

spk_0 So are the Democrats. But most importantly, House Republicans in their continuing resolution,

spk_0 they put in no major cuts. In fact, it's full of funding extensions. And what it does change

spk_0 are total nothingburgers. There's like some tweaks to drug authorization fees and procedures.

spk_0 There is nothing in that bill that endangers any of us. And anyone calling this continuing

spk_0 resolution a partisan bill is simply foolish. Hocking Jeffries. House Democrats have been clear

spk_0 that we will not support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut the healthcare

spk_0 of the American people. There are absolutely no partisan dingal berries in the House continuing

spk_0 resolution worth shutting down the government to stop. And so the bill itself, the House Republicans

spk_0 continuing resolution, I support it as much as I can support the result of the House failing to do

spk_0 its job again. But this is an acceptable band aid and I would vote for it with no hesitation.

spk_0 But almost every Democrat in the House of Representatives refused to vote for this extension

spk_0 of basic government functions. Only Democrat Jared Golden of Maine voted to keep the government

spk_0 functional along with all but two Republicans, which is stunning. Because there are at least 20

spk_0 Republicans who have vowed to never vote for a CR ever again. Now, they cave every time,

spk_0 but they didn't even cause drama this time. They just voted for it. It feels like a miracle.

spk_0 It is seriously the best case scenario we could ask for that the House voted for this level of

spk_0 sanity at this moment in time. But because of the Democrats, it only squeaked through the House

spk_0 of Representatives. It passed 217 to 212. And there were Republicans, you know, going back to being

spk_0 bad faith awful stewards of our government. Well, after that, they decided to just go home on an

spk_0 extended Russia-Shanavocation until September 29th, the day before their deadline. Or at least,

spk_0 that's their official return date according to the Congressional record.

spk_0 Verboly House Republican leaders have said that the Republican House members are not coming back

spk_0 to DC before the funding deadline. And so what they're doing is they are essentially daring the

spk_0 Senate to either take their bill or leave it. And so instead of using this full week that the

spk_0 rest of us are working to finish their homework, they instead doff to play a lazy game of legislative

spk_0 chicken. And so all eyes are going to be on the Senate. And it's not looking good because the Senate

spk_0 already voted down the totally reasonable House continuing resolution. In a vote of 44 to 48,

spk_0 with Democrat John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, the only Democrat to vote yes. And Republican

spk_0 Rand Paul of Kentucky joining the rest of the Democrats in voting no. The House's extension of

spk_0 Biden, era, funding has already failed once. Now it can get another vote so it's not officially

spk_0 dead. But the near unanimous no votes from Democrats is not a good sign. The Republicans,

spk_0 who control the Senate, then allowed the Democrats' preferred bill to come up for a vote.

spk_0 Their bill only funds the government through the end of October, so the Democrats would bring

spk_0 along our next crisis faster. But the Democrats bill is also stuffed with dingalberries.

spk_0 So specifically, the Democrats want to make permanent the affordable care subsidies that

spk_0 were not a part of the original law, but were instead put in place under the COVID-19 emergency.

spk_0 They also want to restore some funding that's been frozen by the Trump administration.

spk_0 They want to reverse cuts to Medicaid enacted under the shameful one big beautiful bill. And they

spk_0 also want to increase security for lawmakers. And politically, I support all of those things.

spk_0 But using the basic functions of government as leverage to get your political goals accomplished

spk_0 via dingalberry, it wasn't okay when the Republicans did it in the past, and it's not okay when

spk_0 the Democrats do it now. And they're not even swinging for the fences in their attempt.

spk_0 The restoration of Medicaid funding would be great. And I wouldn't mind having more government

spk_0 money to help me pay for healthcare when I have to buy it on the exchanges. But we have concentration

spk_0 camps being constructed in this country. We have people being snatched up at airports and off the

spk_0 street, including tourists, legal residents, US citizens, and they are being snatched up by unidentified

spk_0 masked thugs with no warrants. There is crazy sh- going on in this country. So like, you want to stop

spk_0 the Trump warrantless kidnappings via dingalberry? Okay, let's dance. But to shut down the government

spk_0 over restoring extra Obamacare subsidies from when we're in the middle of the COVID emergency?

spk_0 Like, I don't even know if I support that because we're not in that emergency anymore. And I don't

spk_0 even think the Senate Democrats care that much about that anyway. I don't think this is a real attempt.

spk_0 I think they just want to look like they're taking a stand. Because what they are really bitching

spk_0 about is more about them. Here's the head of the Democrats in the Senate Chuck Schumer of New York.

spk_0 Here he is talking to reporters in the Senate hallway on September 19th.

spk_0 Donald Trump continues to push for a shutdown by not negotiating with us. But we are confident

spk_0 when the American people contrast these two proposals, they're going to side with us. They're going

spk_0 to tell Republican congressmen and senators that they should start talking to the Democrats because

spk_0 we are talking about what people need. If they think that they look like fighters by whining that

spk_0 the Republican meanies won't talk to us, they are so wrong. This is the weakest weeny move I

spk_0 think I've ever seen. And I've been watching the Democrats be weenies for a very long time.

spk_0 It's like they keep trying to copy Republicans' bad behavior. Like the Republicans' gerrymander

spk_0 their districts. And so the Democrats are going to gerrymander just in fewer states and less

spk_0 effectively. The Republicans take corporate money. So Democrats are going to take corporate money.

spk_0 But they also have to legislate to help the working class and so they can't really go full blown

spk_0 and be the corporate party as effectively and so they lose by pleasing no one.

spk_0 And now after watching the Republicans shut down the government to get dingleberries into law,

spk_0 the Democrats are prepared to shut down the government to get dingleberries into law.

spk_0 Although this one is even more stupid because this strategy has never even worked for Republicans.

spk_0 As you heard from Jim a govern in 2018, Democrats have long argued that shutdowns are

spk_0 unfair to workers and that the government shouldn't be used as leverage to get partisan policies

spk_0 into law and that shutdowns as leverage don't work. And yet here they are using government as

spk_0 leverage to get partisan policies into law regardless of workers and the total failure of the strategy

spk_0 ever working in the past. The hypocrisy of the Democrats is just overwhelming.

spk_0 But more than hypocrisy, the Democrats in their game of attach to the dingleberry

spk_0 are putting our government in danger at a time when we need them to protect it.

spk_0 And the reason this is a more dangerous time for a shutdown is because according to the

spk_0 Congressional Research Service, there is not much legal guidance instructing what must happen

spk_0 during a government shutdown. What few guardrails exist come mainly from the Anti-Deficiency Act,

spk_0 but those are clear as mud. The rules that we have been operating under were largely created using

spk_0 an interpretation of the Anti-Deficiency Act by the Attorney General after a brief government

spk_0 shutdown in 1980, which means we have been operating during shutdowns not based on laws,

spk_0 but on a 45-year-old precedent. And the precedent in shutdowns is clear. It is always regular Americans

spk_0 who truly pay for them. So let's start with federal employees and contractors. Even the ones who

spk_0 have to come to work because they are considered essential, they don't get paid during a shutdown,

spk_0 because the Constitution doesn't allow money to be dispersed from the Treasury if the

spk_0 appropriations laws have not been signed. In the shutdowns of the Congressional Dish era,

spk_0 this has meant that approximately 800,000 public servants have had their paychecks stopped due to

spk_0 congressional incompetence. During the last shutdown, the Trump shutdown, the longest one in U.S.

spk_0 history, those 800,000 people didn't get their paychecks for 35 days. And what would your finances

spk_0 look like if your paychecks just stopped arriving for 35 days? Now, due to that unfairness,

spk_0 and the shameful admission by that Congress that they were likely to keep failing to do their

spk_0 most basic job in the future, in 2019, Congress passed and President Trump signed the Government

spk_0 Employee Fair Treatment Act, which requires the federal employees to be backpaid as soon as

spk_0 possible after a shutdown ends. Now, this is good for federal employees because at least now,

spk_0 they will know that they will be paid eventually, even for work that they didn't have to do.

spk_0 So for federal employees with some savings, a shutdown could even feel like a nice little

spk_0 unnecessary taxpayer-funded vacation. But this may also have the effect of reducing the

spk_0 urgency to reopen the Government quickly. Now, we haven't had a long shutdown since the last time

spk_0 Donald Trump was President, but if the Democrats listen to the hysterical, do something, do anything

spk_0 crowd, we may find out very soon if the guaranteed repayment of federal workers makes the Government

spk_0 harder to reopen. But there are private sector workers that work for the Government too,

spk_0 and they were not protected by that 2019 law. While federal government employees are guaranteed

spk_0 to be backpaid, government contractors are not. This means that companies have to find a way to pay

spk_0 their employees even though their funding has stopped for no good reason and for an unknown

spk_0 amount of time. When those companies lose their funding, they often furlough their employees,

spk_0 which reduces the amount of money in those people's paychecks. And a furlough can also cause people

spk_0 to fail to hit the required number of work hours that make them eligible for their health insurance,

spk_0 meaning even more private sector employees are likely to lose health insurance in the case of a

spk_0 long shutdown. So this is going to have a ripple effect for lots of regular people like you and I

spk_0 all over the country, for people who work for the Government and who work for the private sector too.

spk_0 Because even if you're not employed in any way by the Federal Government, this will affect you

spk_0 too in ways seen and unseen. In past shutdowns like research at the National Institutes of Health

spk_0 ground to a halt, which would have to do so again, even the studies that haven't been killed by

spk_0 RFK Jr. Also, the Centers for Disease Control, they had to stop doing disease surveillance.

spk_0 Then of course, our national parks had to close, costing our communities millions of dollars in

spk_0 tourism and ruining vacations. Speaking of ruined vacations, passports and visas stopped getting

spk_0 processed. And then in the support our troops categories, veteran services ranging from health to

spk_0 welfare to finance services, they all have to stop. And then for the rest of us taxpayers, this costs

spk_0 billions of dollars to stop and restart the government agencies. That's just wasting your money.

spk_0 And on top of that, shutdowns have always caused recruitment and retention problems in the

spk_0 Federal workforce. But that is a Trump administration goal. In fact, a shutdown plays into Trump's hands

spk_0 in a lot of really dangerous ways. That's why this is more dangerous than usual. Because like I said,

spk_0 there really isn't a detailed law governing what the President can and can't do during a shutdown.

spk_0 And we've been governed by precedent. And precedent is something that Donald Trump respects

spk_0 not at all. But let's just pretend for a moment that Donald Trump hasn't already proven to give

spk_0 zero fucks about precedent. Let's pretend that he might be interested in following the rules.

spk_0 What are those rules? Well, in essence, during shutdowns, federal government agencies have only been

spk_0 allowed to spend money to either shut down operations or carry out functions which were funded and

spk_0 authorized by previous laws. And only functions which either have no end date or extend beyond the

spk_0 current fiscal year. This is complicated though because if carrying out those functions is dependent

spk_0 on functions that haven't been funded, then even that might not be possible.

spk_0 But there are some exceptions. The exceptions allow federal government actions to continue if they

spk_0 are deemed essential. Or if the functions are part of the constitutional duties of the president.

spk_0 Because the president's authority is not granted through the appropriations which are

spk_0 controlled by Congress. The president's authority is granted directly by the Constitution. So that

spk_0 means that Congress can't shut Trump down. No matter what, President Trump is going to continue to

spk_0 work, continue to get paid along with everyone who works for him. And while he and his loyalists

spk_0 remain fully funded at work, the work they get to do is decide what is and what is not essential

spk_0 in the rest of the agencies. And so instead of Congress deciding what gets funded and what parts of

spk_0 our government will remain and what will get cut. As long as the government is shut down, many of

spk_0 those decisions get transferred to Trump. And even the attorney general from 45 years ago whose

spk_0 interpretations we have been relying on for all these years, even he said there's really no

spk_0 precise list of what the president can and cannot do during a shutdown. And so when we are talking

spk_0 about President Donald Trump, who is doing things that the Constitution straight up does not allow

spk_0 him to do, what do you think he's going to do with legal ambiguity? My guess is that he'll do whatever

spk_0 the he wants or more precisely whatever the Russell Vot wants. Russell Vot is the current director

spk_0 of the Office of Management and Budget, an executive branch agency. And he specifically is the guy

spk_0 who would be empowered to give instructions to executive branch agencies on how to prepare for

spk_0 and operate during a shutdown. And if you value a functional government, that is bad.

spk_0 Now, I still think that the Democrats focused during the last election on the project 2025,

spk_0 Boogeyman, I still think that focus was a bit demented. Because in reality, project 2025 was a

spk_0 heritage foundation document had nothing to do with the Trump campaign except that they had some

spk_0 overlapping goals. But that document is useful for understanding Russell Vot because he was one of

spk_0 the literal authors of it. And in the chapter that Russell Vot wrote, the chapter about the

spk_0 agency he is now in charge of, the Office of Management and Budget, he made it crystal clear that

spk_0 agency employees under his leadership are expected to be loyal and working on behalf of President Trump.

spk_0 Here are some quotes. It is vital that the director and his political staff, not the careerists,

spk_0 drive these offices in pursuit of the president's actual priorities and not let them set their

spk_0 own agenda based on the wishes of the sprawling good government management community in and

spk_0 outside of government. He also wrote quotes, success in meeting that challenge will require a rare

spk_0 combination of boldness and self denial, boldness to bend or break the bureaucracy to the presidential

spk_0 will and self denial to use the bureaucratic machine to send power away from Washington.

spk_0 Unquote. And it is clear that he's been trying to break the bureaucracy, a K.A. break our government

spk_0 ever since Trump empowered him because he is the person who heads the agency on top of the failed

spk_0 experiment that was Doge. For those not in the know, the Department of Government Efficiency or Doge,

spk_0 that was never a real government department. It was a sub agency of the Office of Management and Budget

spk_0 that was renamed to both trick people into thinking that had the power of a department and to tickle

spk_0 the fancy of the always childish Elon Musk who at the time was in charge of it.

spk_0 But as you probably do know, Doge tried in quite a few legal and blatantly illegal ways to encourage

spk_0 mass resignations and enact mass firings of government employees. And while Elon and his

spk_0 ridiculous personality and his chainsaw got all of the attention and the blame for the Doge

spk_0 debacle, all of that was done under the leadership of Russell Vaughn. He was the person who was

spk_0 actually in charge of that government slash and burn project. So like, here's Russell Vaughn on

spk_0 Tucker Carlson show shortly after the election talking about his plans for Doge.

spk_0 There certainly is a mass of layoffs and firing particularly across some of the agencies that we

spk_0 don't even think should exist. And right now all of our agencies still exist. And so I don't think

spk_0 that he thinks his job is done. And while Elon has returned to whatever layer he sleeps in at

spk_0 Twitter or SpaceX or Tesla or fucking cares, Russell Vaughn hasn't gone anywhere. He's still the

spk_0 director of the Office of Management and Budget. And he would get to decide how our federal agencies

spk_0 function or don't function in which federal employees work during a shutdown. And this man has

spk_0 already shown an enthusiastic willingness to make working for the government so unstable a

spk_0 profession and so chaotic that federal employees will want to quit. Shutting down the government

spk_0 and their paychecks will only help his cause. Like just listen to how this guy talks about funding

spk_0 for agencies. In this case, this was a speech that he was giving in 2023, but he was specifically

spk_0 talking about the EPA, but it's the strategy. That's what I want you to pay attention to because it's

spk_0 the strategy that he is employing across the board. We want their funding to be shut down so that the

spk_0 EPA can't do all of the rules against our energy industry because they have no bandwidth,

spk_0 financially, to do so. We want to put them in trauma. And so Democrats shutting down the funding

spk_0 of these agencies because you mean Republican, you won't talk to us. That plays right into this dude's

spk_0 hands. And so anyone who cares about our government remaining functional should not want that to happen.

spk_0 And because he would be empowered, this could explain why President Trump is so clearly not that

spk_0 interested in stopping a shutdown from happening. After all, he's not the one making the demands this

spk_0 time. In fact, President Donald Trump thanked the House for passing its clean continuing resolution.

spk_0 But does this sound like a guy desperate to keep the government open to you? Here he is on September 19th

spk_0 in the Oval Office. We'll continue to talk to the Democrats, but I think you could very well end

spk_0 up with a closed country for a period of time. And we'll take care of the military, we'll take

spk_0 care of social security, we'll take care of the things that we have to take care of. A lot of the

spk_0 things the Democrats fight for, which in many cases aren't very good things, will not be able to be paid.

spk_0 He seems to know that he gets to pick and choose what stays open during a shutdown. He seems to know

spk_0 that a shutdown increases his power. And unfortunately, we are in an unprecedented situation right now.

spk_0 We have a party that has hell-bent on destroying whole segments of our federal government.

spk_0 Specifically, they are intent on destroying agencies that keep us safe from the consequences of

spk_0 corporate greed because the Republicans have long been the servants of corporate wealth.

spk_0 Which means that we need an opposition party in this moment that is going to do everything they

spk_0 can to stop the bleeding. And when you are trying to preserve a government, the dumbest possible

spk_0 thing you can do is shut it down and hand more power over to the agents of destruction.

spk_0 And yet in order to look like they're doing something, or to get the Republicans to talk to them,

spk_0 shutting down the government is precisely what the Democrats look poised to do.

spk_0 And they can blame Trump and the Republicans all they want. But the continuing resolutions text

spk_0 will speak for itself in the history books. It's the Democrats who are trying the Dingelberry method.

spk_0 And when I re-listen to this episode in a few years, it's the Democrats I will tell myself that I

spk_0 blamed. It doesn't matter if you support the Dingelberries that they are trying to attach to the

spk_0 funding. It's the strategy that matters and it's a dumb strategy because it has never worked.

spk_0 And if they know it's not going to work, then it's just reckless political theater.

spk_0 Either way, Democrats are not going to win this one. But the real tragedy is that the

spk_0 Congressional Democrats aren't going to lose it either. Who loses are going to be the people who

spk_0 work for our government, who have had an unnecessarily chaotic year already. Who loses will be all of us

spk_0 who pay taxes because shutting down and reopening the government agencies is expensive and

spk_0 wastes our money when it's so easily avoided like right now. And who loses beyond that is also

spk_0 unknown because depending on the amount of power commanded by the Trump White House and the

spk_0 absence of any actual shutdown guardrails, who knows how much damage they'll be able to do.

spk_0 It's in all of our interest, except maybe Donald Trump's to keep our government open, even if

spk_0 it's only running on fumes. And so if you agree, please contact your Democrats right now.

spk_0 Because we are running out of time to save them from themselves.

spk_0 So I just want to thank our executive producers and all of our producers really for keeping

spk_0 congressional dish in existence. It's been a rough couple of weeks. Those of you who support

spk_0 the show already know that. That is because I have actually been quite active on our green room

spk_0 feed, which is what I have nicknamed our Patreon feed. But yeah, over on Patreon, I've been having

spk_0 a lot of existential thoughts about this podcast. And if you're curious about any of that,

spk_0 which has been all happening in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination. If you're curious about

spk_0 any of that, there's some episodes waiting for you on the Patreon private feed, along with the

spk_0 last week in Congress episodes. But yeah, I really need your support in these times because if you

spk_0 weren't paying me this job just feels dangerous and way in a way now that it hasn't in the past.

spk_0 And so I'm really doing this now for this community. And I'll keep doing this for a while.

spk_0 I hope in one of the people who's really helped for so long to keep this podcast up and running

spk_0 is Mike Coverdale. He is an executive producer many times over. And he has another executive producer

spk_0 credit that he wants to put on an episode. So he said, I would like credit for congressional

spk_0 edition 176 regime change Venezuela with Trump sending troops there to fabricate a war so he can

spk_0 exert executive authority is time for people to revisit how our government has been threatening

spk_0 Venezuela for decades in order to allow oil giants to steal their resources cheaply.

spk_0 Mike, thank you for bringing that up and for highlighting that episode and moving it up the most

spk_0 valuable episodes list. We should be paying a lot of attention to Venezuela because Trump is

spk_0 also just blowing up Venezuela and boats full of people on them calling them terrorists. But like,

spk_0 you know, so these people are one of the most frustrating things in my life right now is that I have

spk_0 this job. And there are so many things that Congress should be investigating, including Trump possibly

spk_0 starting a war or preparing for a war with Venezuela. Like, I don't know. I would love to have Marco

spk_0 Rubio's ass like hauled into a hearing and have all these questions asked by Congress. I'd also like

spk_0 to know like under what authority is Trump just murdering people at sea. So many questions and

spk_0 just no hearings about this whatsoever. So yeah, thank you for shining a light on that. And

spk_0 obviously if I see anything come across the congressional record that indicates that there's

spk_0 an investigation, I will pay attention to it right away. But right now the Republicans are

spk_0 complicit with what everything Trump is doing. They are not doing any oversight at least not much.

spk_0 I will say that there was one hearing that I will listen to in the Senate that happened last

spk_0 week. So there's some indication that the tides are turning. But there was a hearing where Senate

spk_0 Republicans wanted to talk to the CDC director because she was recently fired after only being on

spk_0 the job for a month. And apparently, and again, I need to listen to it. But what I do know is that

spk_0 she testified that RFK Jr. was pushing her to approve things before she was even seeing them.

spk_0 And so that is real political influence in our scientific agencies, especially the CDC,

spk_0 which is supposed to keep us safe from diseases. So I want to watch that hearing. And that is the

spk_0 first sign that I've seen that the Republicans are investigating the Trump administration in

spk_0 any way. So I'm glad to see anything happening at all, but we need a whole lot more than we're getting.

spk_0 All right. So yeah, if you want to hear more on a regular basis, please support the show on

spk_0 Patreon. Listen to last week in Congress. But I will have a summary episode of this month coming

spk_0 out soon here on Congressional dish. And then like I said, I'm going to listen to that CDC

spk_0 director hearing. And if it is interesting, that might be a future episode of Congressional dish.

spk_0 We will see either way. I want to thank the people that make this podcast

spk_0 possible for me to produce. So thank you to my production and research assistant Claire. Thank

spk_0 you to Mike at ProPadcast Solutions. Thank you to Mark at podcastbranding.co. He does our

spk_0 web design and security. Thank you to my sister Lauren, who is our executive producer services

spk_0 specialist. Thank you to my biggest fan and tax dude, my dear old dad. And thank you as always,

spk_0 to our guardian angel, Brian Karris. I still see him in every episode's artwork, even though it's

spk_0 now being created by Chatsy Bt. I like to think that that Brian is my my little robot who is making

spk_0 the art for us from above. All right. Thanks so much. I'll talk to you soon. Bye.

spk_0 So think we can deny it anymore. You can stick to your story. Yeah. Yeah.

spk_0 But we're not keeping quiet anymore.

spk_0 We are so damn tired of paying lie to government jobs consume the profits

spk_0 of the private sector. We don't think we can deny it anymore.

spk_0 You can stick to your story if you think it flies. But we're not keeping quiet anymore.

spk_0 Now when I keep it quiet, these bills represent common sense bipartisan solutions that actually

spk_0 solve problems.

CD323: Shutdown Bad

Interactive Transcript

Topics Covered

Related Episodes

Is Trudeau to blame for Carney's disappointing budget?

What this week’s elections could mean for the midterms

Inside Call me Back SNEAK PEEK: Between Mamdani and Tucker, Are Jews Getting Squeezed? - with Jonah Goldberg

215: Inside the News Cycle: Comedy, Policy, and Real-World Climate Choices with Bill Kessler

Share Episode