Dems Must Hold Out for these Five Demands

The price for helping keep the government open

With the return of Congress to D.C., Republicans will have to decide whether to shut down the government or pass a continuing resolution at the end of the month (since they cannot manage to get the actual appropriations bills done by the end of the fiscal year). Republicans have the White House and majorities in both houses. It’s their call and their responsibility. If they cannot do it without a Democratic vote, Democrats have to extract a price.

As a preliminary matter, Democrats should insist on a floor vote in both houses with no Democratic assistance, on Republicans’ CR. When it fails, there will be no confusion as to who is to blame if the government shuts down. That should also help focus everyone’s attention on the critical question: What do Democrats want in exchange for bailing out Republicans’ from their utter incompetence?

Democrats should aim for the sweet spot, demanding meaningful and popular items that, should Republicans reject, will aid Democrats in 2026. Let’s be candid. Both the Democratic Party and democracy’s survival hinge on the midterms. It therefore follows that Democrats should look to underscore Republicans’ liabilities and remind voters that Democrats, not Republicans, are on their side.

Minority Leader Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) incurred the wrath of Democrats when he saved Republicans from a shutdown in March. Unless he wants to trigger a full-on mutiny that would put Democrats’ 2026 prospects at risk, he needs to drive a hard bargain to deliver Democratic votes this time around.

First and foremost, no deal makes sense unless Republicans undo the rescissions and insert language (however symbolic) to refuse further White House efforts to take over spending authority. What is the point of appropriations if Donald Trump is simply going to come back with his to-don’t list and wipe out funding Congress previously authorized?

Trump practically dared Democrats to refuse cooperation last week when he tossed out another rescission demand, this time $4.9B to effectively destroy USAID. “Today’s announcement of the Administration’s plan to advance an unlawful ‘pocket rescission’ package is further proof President Trump and Congressional Republicans are hellbent on rejecting bipartisanship and ‘going it alone’ this fall,” Minority Leader Schumer said on Friday. “As the country stares down next month’s government funding deadline on September 30^th, it is clear neither President Trump nor Congressional Republicans have any plan to avoid a painful and entirely unnecessary shutdown.”

Schumer would be smart to follow Sen. Chris Murphy’s advice. “I’ve obviously been the lone ‘no’ vote in the Appropriations Committee on these budgets, because I don’t understand how we can trust that any of the agreements we make are going to be adhered to by an administration that is acting illegally every single day,” the Connecticut Democrat told reporters, according to The Hill. “I don’t think the bills we’re voting on are actually what’s going to happen.” Which is why any deal with Democrats must include a ban on rescissions and restoration of the money from the previous one.

In addition, Democrats would be smart to demand reversal of the draconian Medicaid cuts that put Americans health at risk (especially pregnant women in rural areas). This should not be hard. Even Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who voted for the Medicaid cuts the first time, now has second thoughts. “I want to see Medicaid reductions stopped and rural hospitals fully funded permanently,” he said just a couple of weeks after passage of the bill. Well, he and the other three Democrats who voted against the final big, ugly bill can provide the votes to undo it. And if Republicans start wailing about debt, they can pay for it by repealing the latest round of tax cuts for those making $1M or more.

Third, to fund the Department of Homeland Security, Democrats should demand—and Republicans should accept—several checks on MAGA’s abusive tactics: No deportations to third countries (e.g. Uganda), abide by congressional requests to inspect facilities (immediately, not a week later), and require that all ICE and other immigration personnel be unmasked and wear easily spotted identification. DHS should also be required to report monthly on the numbers of persons without criminal records arrested/detained, whether individuals detained were employed, and the number of years detainees resided in the United States. Americans by large margins disapprove of the Trump lawless, chaotic raids; Democrats should not be shy about installing these comparatively minor safeguards.

Fourth, Democrats now have the opportunity to force Republicans to pass new Russian sanctions measures, which the GOP members claim they favor. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s obvious contempt for Trump’s “diplomacy,” stepped-up attacks on Ukrainian civilians, and refusal to engage in any serious negotiations all necessitate congressional action. The looming shutdown provides the perfect opening to turn up the heat on Putin (and his sidekick Trump).

Finally, now is the time to insist Republicans pass ethics measures they, again, allegedly support. Those include a ban on stock trading for members of Congress as well as the president and vice president and mandatory ethics rules for the Supreme Court. Democrats can make clear these are the first, but certainly not the last, steps in a crusade to muck out the MAGA stables and attack Trump’s grotesque corruption.

These items—banning/reversing rescissions; restoring Medicaid; curtailing DHS overreach and illegality; implementing Russia sanctions; and setting up basic ethics requirements for all three branches—have broad popular support. Some Republican lawmakers (e.g. Sen. Susan Collins on recession, Sen. Hawley on Medicaid and ethics requirements, Sen. Lindsey Graham on sanctions) say they back these things. So, what would be the problem in passing them as a condition to keep the government open?

If Republicans refuse to adopt these reasonable items, then they can figure out on their own how to keep the government running. If they fail, voters will see how unreasonable and incapable of governing MAGA Republicans truly are.