Have We Stopped Pretending This Is Normal Yet?

By Ross Bogan

The Democratic Party, or at least its congressional leadership, faces a serious decision in less than two weeks: Without congressional action, the government will run out of money, and Democrats can either join Republicans in restoring funding to a government that is committed to acting against its interests (to put it mildly), or shut the government down.

Forgive me if this seems like déjà vu, because of course we’ve been here many times before, although arguably the stakes are much higher now. The most recent episode was in March, when Senate Democrats went along with the GOP, to the great frustration of the party base, triggering angry denunciations. So here we are again – will this time be different?

There is no shortage of analysis and punditry on this issue, and one of the best recent articles is Ezra Klein’s “Stop Pretending This is Normal” in the New York Times on September 7 – see attached.

There have been several developments in the two weeks since it was written, but the fundamental points still apply. The key issue, both in March and now, is that the party has no real power – the GOP controls both houses of Congress, not to mention the White House and the Supreme Court (more or less). All the Democrats can do is say no to “must pass” actions, thus creating a crisis that gives them the nation’s attention, at least temporarily. But that’s it – otherwise it doesn’t matter what they have to say.

Beginning with a look at the March showdown, Klein lists three reasons Schumer had for not forcing a shutdown then: DOGE was gutting large swaths of the executive branch, and a government shutdown could accelerate their damage; the courts were impeding and even stopping many of Trumps initiative, and the chaos created by his tariffs was threatening an economic crisis, which in both cases a government shutdown could defuse and obscure.

Klein suggests a fourth explanation that is more compelling, and still pressing: at that time the Democrats were simply, woefully unprepared. The point of creating a crisis is that is draws attention, which the party could use to make its case to the public. Why they found it necessary to shut down the government or what they wanted to achieve was not explained, however.

There was no strategy or message. Under those circumstances, Klein argues, it wasn’t the time for a shutdown; it wasn’t something they could win.

So where are we today? The three reasons for not pushing a shutdown in March are not only outdated, but actually reversed, now that we are, Klein’s words, past the muzzle-velocity stage of the new administration and into the authoritarian consolidation stage, which is a dire observation by itself. Following the shock-and awe DOGE bombardment, the federal agencies have been harnessed by Trump’s sycophantic appointees and wrecking even more serious damage. Far from stopping the administration’s progress, the federal courts have been largely blocked by SCOTUS. The predicted economic crisis has yet to take hold, nor has a market reaction.

Of course, it is actually much worse than just this. Klein details almost two pages worth of ongoing corruption and subversion of the government, the trampling of norms and outright violation of laws, not to mention constitutional safeguards, all of which you are probably well aware of. “This is not just how authoritarianism happens”, Klein says. “This is authoritarianism happening.”

And so, what can the Democrats do about it now? On the one hand, how can they not oppose continued funding, but what would a shutdown achieve?

As Klein reiterates, it will make people pay attention, but then they have to make the argument, and actually win it. Two weeks ago, it wasn’t clear what issues they would focus on, or what the core message would be. There was ongoing clamor over even where to start: corruption, civil rights violations, healthcare cuts, plutocratic economics, the quickening march of authoritarianism…an embarrassment of outrages, if you will.

At the end of last week, they finally did draw that line, highlighting healthcare – calling for reversing cuts to Medicaid and restoring Obamacare subsidies – and sequestered appropriations. The first is an obvious and good choice, although the second is largely symbolic. What the administration is doing is already illegal, and complaining further is unlikely to be effective. Congress has since left town, the Senate not due back until a day before the deadline, and the House a day after.

OK, so message settled, but who is there to deliver it, Klein asked, two weeks ago: “Have Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer distinguished themselves as able to win an argument?”

Last Saturday, these two gentlemen wrote Trump a letter – how quaint – demanding he meet with them to avert a shutdown. Not sure what they are thinking, did they not watch Zelenskyy’s meeting in the Oval Office?

Joking aside, this is a serious problem, and the lack of preparation over the last six months, plus the less-than-rousing recent activity in recent weeks, is cause for deep concern, if not depression. Why hasn’t there been a sustained, aggressive and public campaign to set the stage for this month’s showdown? Klein concluded, two weeks ago, “If there’s a better plan…, great. But if the plan is still nothing, then Democrats need new leaders.”

This commentary is based on Ezra Klein’s article, “Stop Pretending This is Normal”, published in the New York Times, September 7, 2025.