John,
Congress just avoided another self-inflicted crisis. Ten Senate Democrats – Chuck Schumer, Dick Durbin, Angus King, Brian Schatz, Maggie Hassan, John Fetterman, Gary Peters, Catherine Cortez Masto, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Jeanne Shaheen – voted alongside almost all Republicans to advance the House GOP’s Continuing Resolution (CR), meaning a government shutdown is off the table – for now.
That is a relief for the millions of Americans who rely on government services, from veterans accessing benefits to federal employees who would have gone unpaid. The alternative – a shutdown – would have been another embarrassing display of dysfunction, hurting families and weakening America’s standing in the world.
Amid this frustrating spectacle, it's worth pointing out an example of courageous leadership from Maine Rep. Jared Golden. He was the only House Democrat to vote for the CR – and he took plenty of criticism from his party for doing so.
He made his reasoning clear in a call with our community yesterday: “This is not the bill I would have drafted, but it’s what [House Speaker] Mike Johnson has offered.” Faced with a potentially disastrous shutdown, Rep. Golden did what he felt was best for America.
Too many political partisans would rather punish those who put country over party. This week former DNC Chair Howard Dean suggested Democrats should launch primary challenges against any Democrat who voted to keep the government open. On the Republican side, President Trump has recently threatened primaries against Republican members of Congress who do not toe the party line.
No Labels takes a different view. Instead of punishing leaders for thinking and acting independently, we should be rewarding them.
It should not take political courage to be responsible and avert a shutdown that would harm millions. But in Washington, it does.
Shutdowns are bad for everyone. Services get suspended. Federal workers, including Border Patrol agents and TSA officers, go without pay. The National Guard does not get trained. The economy takes a hit. Small businesses waiting on federal contracts or loans get caught in limbo.
That is why Americans overwhelmingly reject these political games. In the 2018-2019 shutdown, a YouGov poll found two-thirds of Americans blamed both parties for the crisis.
A Quinnipiac poll during that same shutdown found that 84 percent of Americans believed it was unnecessary.
And it is not just about the immediate damage – shutdowns make the country look weak on the world stage. Right now, the U.S. is facing serious threats from adversaries like Vladimir Putin. A government that cannot even keep itself open looks weak – not just to our allies, but our enemies as well.
The CR is not perfect. No one got everything they wanted. But Golden himself made it clear why he took this stand:
“Even a brief shutdown would introduce even more chaos and uncertainty at a time when our country can ill-afford it. Funding the government is our most basic obligation as members of Congress.”
Recognizing that, even when your party tells you otherwise, is what real leadership looks like.
Rep. Golden did what needed to be done. And he took heat from his own party for it.
