Fellow Conservative,

The government is in its first shutdown in seven years. Here’s what you need to know.

Congressional Democrats have shut down the government. On September 19th, the House passed a continuing resolution to extend government funding through November 21st, but Senate Democrats blocked it.

This is a political game for Democrats, many of whom see this shutdown as “politically advantageous” and as a way to slow the Trump administration’s agenda – and it’s hurting the American people.

What changed?

Remember, Senate Democrats voted for a nearly identical bill back in March. That vote sent their radical base into a frenzy – and Democrats are too scared to cross them again, even if it’s directly hurting their constituents. Many of the senators who voted to pass a continuing resolution (CR) in March, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer himself, faced calls for primary challenges from their progressive base. Now they are shutting down the government to protect their own seats.

Senate Democrats’ gameplan here is obvious: make absurd demands and then use their media allies to spin a narrative that Republicans shut down the government for partisan reasons. One small problem. The only bill that’s gained even an ounce of bipartisan support is the Republican Clean CR, with a handful of Democrats supporting it.

Here’s a breakdown of what the rest of the Democrats are demanding:

  • Free healthcare for illegal aliens – yes, they are really demanding that.

  • Making permanent COVID-era Obamacare subsidies meant to mask the structural rot in the Obamacare exchanges.

  • Reversing Medicaid reforms that reduce waste, fraud, and abuse.

  • Expanding Green New Scam programs that the Trump administration eliminated. Restoring funding for woke propaganda at PBS and NPR.

Perhaps the Democrats should heed their own advice.

"It is not normal to shut down the government when we don't get what we want."

Heritage Action will continue holding Democrats accountable and ensuring they can’t spin this shutdown debacle in their favor.

Although the White House social media manager might be on furlough, President Trump is pumping out some of the best satire we’ve seen in years to brand Democrats by their own demands. Democrats are having a meltdown over the harmless sombrero memes, but here’s another of our personal favorites:

Russ Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and a Heritage Action alum, is slashing wasteful government spending as a result of this shutdown. In just the past few days he’s cut:

  • $7.5 billion in Department of Energy project funds.

  • $8 billion in Green New Scam funding.

  • $18 billion in DEI-tied projects in New York.

Washington is bloated with unaccountable, left-wing agencies that waste taxpayer dollars, erode our freedoms, and undermine the will of the American people. Together, Russ Vought and President Trump are showing the courage to do what conservatives have wanted for decades: restore constitutional government by cutting the size of government, dismantling the administrative state, and returning power to the people.

We’re about to see just how much of the bloated federal government is nothing more than wasteful bureaucracy. Entire agencies that have long outlived their usefulness are finally facing the reckoning they deserve. Director Vought is making that happen.

This week, the FBI confirmed it severed all ties to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a far-left activist group that puts conservatives and Christians on a “hate map” along with Ku Klux Klan chapters.

The SPLC originally began as a public interest law firm focused on civil rights cases and gained its reputation by suing Ku Klux Klan groups into bankruptcy. However, after the Klan largely disappeared, the SPLC started targeting mainstream conservative and Christian groups, putting them on a “hate map” alongside Klan chapters. Its “hate map” has influenced law enforcement, Big Tech, despite its troubling history and ties to Antifa.

The FBI’s announcement is welcome news. Now, it's time for Congress to use its power – starting with a select committee – to investigate whether groups like SPLC are supporting violence or abusing the law.

- The Heritage Action Team

Join the fight to advance the conservative agenda.