'Twisted irony': Democrats risk betraying their own pet issues with government shutdown gamble
Senate Democrats for years have warned of the negative side effects of government shutdowns that would largely affect their priorities, but as the shutdown drags on, they find themselves in...
By Fox News · Fox News
Senate Democrats for years have warned of the negative side effects of government shutdowns that would largely affect their priorities, but as the shutdown drags on, they find themselves in direct opposition to their own pet projects. "There's a tremendously twisted irony," Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., told Fox News Digital. John Feehery of EFB Advocacy, who served as press secretary to former Republican House Speaker Dennis J. Hastert, said, "The most unbelievable thing" about the shutdown is Democrats "hurting their own constituents." "Democrats never shut the government down. This is the first time they've ever done this. I mean, they've let the Republicans shut the government down, but they've never done it on purpose," he said. MIKE JOHNSON UNDERCUTS JOHN THUNE ON OBAMACARE NEGOTIATIONS TO END SHUTDOWN As Senate Democrats have pushed the shutdown into the longest on record, they still aren’t ready to reopen the government, even as millions who rely on food stamps from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are only set to get partial benefits. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer , D-N.Y., and his caucus have remained firm in their demand that they get a guarantee to extend expiring Obamacare premium subsidies in exchange for their votes to reopen the government. Democrats have blasted President Donald Trump and his administration for threatening to not fund federal food benefits. Earlier this week, Trump said that food stamps would not be funded despite a court order requiring that they at least be partially paid for. "They're the ones who shut down the government," Lummis said. "They won't reopen it, and so they got nothing to complain about. It's within their control to reopen the government. It's in their control." His administration has since changed course, however, and announced in a memo from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that Americans that rely on the benefits would receive 65% of their typical allotted amount. A federal judge then…