Last week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer Announce Democrats will seek to restore funds to Medicare and extend Obamacare subsidies in the upcoming government funding bill. Senator Schumer says Democrats will Detain their votesforced the government to close at the end of the month.
The announcement came just days after Schumer announced the news, conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot dead at an event in Utah. Afterwards, President Donald Trump and his allies Blame to blame At the feet of Democrats Left. Trump in a speech at the Oval Office on Thursday swear His administration will “find people who contribute to this atrocities and other political violence, including organizations that fund and support it.” Some believe that a battle to pick a budget could give Trump permission in this intensified rhetoric farther His autocratic goals. Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen thought it was worth it.
In an interview Today, I explained“There will always be risks, but again, Republicans and the Trump White House will take that risk because obviously they will be a one-person action trying to essentially impose a total one-party rule on the country,” Van Hollen said. Senator Van Hollen believes that Republicans lose more by detaining concessions than Democrats continue.
The following is Senator Van Hollen and Today, I explained Host Noel King, edited length and clarity. There are more in the full podcast, so listen Today, I explained Wherever you get podcasts, including Apple Podcast,,,,, Pandoraand Spotify.
Schumer and minority leader Hakeem Jeffries set terms to avoid a government shutdown. They hope that Republicans will pull down Medicaid cuts and expand subsidies for Obamacare. What is your position in the close?
Well, first of all, we shouldn’t give President Trump a blank check to continue his inability to do things, including his illegal withholding of funds, for example, NIH [the National Institutes of Health]people are undergoing clinical trials of cancer – he withholds funds, which actually means a death penalty for them. The Government Accountability Office Gao Gao found out that he had illegally seized the funds. So without guardrails and safeguards, we can’t give them blank checks to make sure that this doesn’t happen.
What are the guardrails and safeguards? What’s special about you afterwards?
So, for example, Republicans in the Senate and House voted for the so-called revocation plan, which means they voted for the revocation of resources, which they previously voted for. You can make it harder to do this by requiring a profit of 60 votes.
You can do other things, Noel. For example, if the president is going to make an illegal revocation, you may immediately make a full cut in the White House grant. So if Republicans are willing to join us, you can do something, but so far they aren’t willing to take over President Trump in any way.
The country was in a very similar position in March this year. The concern at the time was that if Democrats shut down the government, they would eventually be blamed. They will eventually alienate the voters. Is this a problem?
Well, it will be the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress shut down the government because they decided to go alone. They decided to have a one-way street. They decided to give President Trump a blank check. And I don’t think the American people want to see President Trump get a blank check because they see him withholding money from FEMA and places where the disaster hit and refuse to fund relief. He is retaining funding from the National Institutes of Health. In fact, through our current calculations, they have withheld about $400 billion of important priorities in the fiscal year we are in, which ends in just a few weeks. So if they do it now, unless we stop, he will do it again.
In the first half of the show, our colleague Andrew Prokop raised the situation: A possible situation: An extended shutdown led Republicans to believe that Democrats were abusing the fil word, so they terminated the fillip. So, that means Republicans no longer need any Democrats to vote on them, they can do whatever they want. He portrayed the shutdown as a dangerous possibility for Democrats. What do you think about this?
There will always be risks, but again, Republicans and the Trump White House will take this risk because it is obvious that they are one person trying to essentially impose a general one-party rule on the country. Trump’s authoritarian impulses will not be checked or balanced.
Regarding Republicans getting rid of the lawsuit, I think they recognize that the Senate and the House are not good for them in the long run. I mean, I’ve always been an advocate for ending the so-called super joy demands to end the fly foot; you’ll still have weeks or months of debate, but at the end of the day, you’ll end up with a 51 vote. Republicans are able to do what they want without doing this. So, for example, they use the settlement process to carry out massive tax cuts through very rich and cut plans for Americans. We see them doing this in what is called a “big and beautiful bill” if you’re a billionaire but notorious to everyone else. So important things Republicans like to do, such as tax cuts, can be done even in the midst of their simplicity. I don’t think Republicans will go this way because of the super awesome demands [that currently exists] Ending the words is beneficial to their agenda, not the agenda of the people.
President Trump accused in an Oval Office speech citing “radical left” after conservative influencer Charlie Kirk was killed by a shooter last week. He vowed: “Find people who contribute to this atrocity and other political violence, including organizations that fund and support it.”
This makes people a potentially very likely threat to freedom of expression and civil liberties. Have events in the past week changed your mind about how you approach the Trump administration? What do you think the president is saying here?
I was very shocked by the president’s remarks. There is no room for political violence in our words. We can have strong debates without violence and should not engage in revenge. President Trump has the opportunity to bring the country together and says political violence is unacceptable, regardless of its source, but he decided to engage in finger-pointing. Instead, he is working on this horrible tragedy, a murder to promote his political goals, including pursuing what he calls a leftist figure, in the Trump world, which means anyone who disagrees with Donald Trump. So yes, very worried that he would threaten to use the full power and tools of the federal government to pursue those who disagree with him.
There are many dangers for Democrats here. As you said, the polls show that Americans are indeed dissatisfied with not only the party but not just the public. Democrats themselves are not satisfied with the party. In August, an Associated Press poll on Democrats saw people use words such as “weak”, “moderate”, “ineffective” and “breaking.” What do you think is happening here?
Well, I don’t think Democrats are doing enough to support Donald Trump’s illegal acts, nor do I think Democrats have made a positive vision that is enough to present our positive vision for what we are going to do, including taking on very strong special interests and fighting for the common and public interests.
On the weekend, I was invited to talk to Polk County, Iowa, Democrats, and I made the argument exactly: There is more to do in this moment to support Donald Trump. But it is clear that in 2024, the American people, most American people, do not believe that we accept the status quo and assume these special interests. So I believe we need not only to be more clear about what we are fighting against, but also what we are fighting for.
You also endorse Zohran Mamdani during Saturday’s event. You criticize other Democratic leaders for postponing their approval. You mentioned what is called “invertebral politics.” What’s going on? What is your favorite Mamdani doing?
I’m talking about it, when we’re ready to win the House and Senate majority in 2026, we need to win the 2025 game first. We have gubernatorial seats in Virginia and New Jersey, great candidates have big games, and we also need to win the New York City Mayoral Game. I point out that Donald Trump spent a lot of time and resources trying to beat Mamdani. Mamdani’s platform is that people working in New York should be affordable for those living in New York, which is beneficial to people in New York City. And Des Moines, Iowa; in Maryland; and the country as a whole. But you have these very powerful big money, special interests – financial interests combined with Donald Trump, trying to beat Mamdani. So I do think it’s a moment when Democrats need to stand up for those who are working to lower costs and make sure people can afford the jobs they live.
