Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, a Democrat, reportedly issued a pointed reminder to his party on Monday as negotiations over a looming government shutdown grew increasingly tense: if Democrats want leverage in budget talks, they should “win elections.”
The comment, reported by CNN’s Manu Raju, underscored divisions within the Democratic caucus as lawmakers rejected a Republican spending measure designed to temporarily keep the government open. “John Fetterman, pushing back on Dems’ hardline over shutdown talks, says he has a suggestion for his party as it demands changes on health care policy as part of spending talks: ‘Win elections,’ he told us,” Mr. Raju wrote on X.
Democrats in both chambers had returned to Washington with promises to protect government services from disruption.
But despite warnings about the impact of a shutdown, most Democrats stood firm in opposition to the stopgap bill Republicans offered.
Representative Henry Cuellar of Texas insisted that a shutdown would “disrupt vital services, halt disaster relief, and put countless federal employees out of work,” posting on X that “at the end of the day, a government shutdown doesn’t impact politicians – it harms everyday Americans.”
Still, when it came time to vote, Mr. Cuellar and 209 other House Democrats rejected the Republican plan, leaving only one member of their caucus — Representative Jared Golden of Maine — willing to cross the aisle.
The Republican proposal, introduced on Sept. 19, would have extended government funding for seven weeks. Republican leaders presented it as a necessary measure to keep federal operations running while Congress worked through deeper disagreements.
President Donald J. Trump, back in the White House for urgent talks with congressional leaders, sought to stave off a shutdown. Despite his efforts, both sides left without an agreement.
Republicans pressed for a clean funding extension, while Democrats demanded health care concessions in exchange for their votes.
At the center of the impasse was a sweeping Democratic ask: roughly $1.5 trillion in new spending for Obamacare subsidies and Medicaid.
Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, led the push. Republicans dismissed the request as excessive and unrelated to the immediate goal of avoiding a shutdown.
The clash highlighted a growing divide in strategy. Republicans presented themselves as willing to keep the government open without attaching new spending priorities, while Democrats tied their support to ambitious health care expansions. For Mr. Fetterman, the political reality was simple. In his view, Democrats cannot dictate terms from a position of minority power.
His message was blunt: “Win elections.”
That remark set him apart from many in his party who, even as they sounded alarms about the consequences of a shutdown, doubled down on rejecting the GOP’s temporary solution.
Conservatives pointed to the contradiction — Democrats warning of harm to Americans while simultaneously blocking the only bill that would prevent disruption.
For Republicans, the fight is about fiscal discipline and keeping government running without endless concessions. For Democrats, it has become an opportunity to extract costly health care commitments.
Mr. Fetterman’s candid words revealed the tension inside his party — and the limits of political leverage when the votes aren’t there.
[READ MORE: Fetterman Rejects Party Switch but Distances Himself From Progressive Extremes]
