Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), never known for self-awareness, set a new standard for political double-talk during his latest interview on Face the Nation when he insisted Democrats aren't "holding federal workers hostage" despite the government being shut down for twelve days and counting.
It doesn't matter that he once condemned similar tactics in 2018, when he called it immoral. Now, however, he says it's an "emergency."
Murphy grew defensive when CBS's Margaret Brennan asked if he was being hypercritical by "doing today what he criticized then."
No. That was a fight over sort of the long-term structure of the American healthcare system. This is an emergency. In about a month, premiums are going to go up by people by 75 percent. And we have to make a decision of whether this budget is going to allow for that happen – to happen or to stop it.
What is happening in Chicago right now is an emergency. What is happening at the FCC as they try to shut down free speech in this country is an emergency. So, we have a responsibility in this upcoming budget to prevent disaster for families whose premiums are going to – about to go up, and to address the destruction of our democracy and the rule of law that's happening all over this country. Those are urgent matters.
That makes sense, because in Murphy's world hostage-taking is wrong! Unless, of course, he's the one holding the keys to the chains.
Murphy claims the crisis came from soaring health insurance premiums.
...that was a fight over, sort of, the long term structure of the American health care system. This is an emergency. In about a month, premiums are going to go up by people by 75% and we have to make a decision whether this budget is going to allow for that to happen or to stop it. What is happening in Chicago right now is an emergency. What is happening at the FCC as they try to shut down free speech in this country is an emergency. So we have a responsibility in this upcoming budget to prevent disaster for families whose premiums are about to go up, and to address the destruction of our democracy and the rule of law that's happening all over this country.
This is Murphy's justification for keeping thousands of federal employees in limbo, with the "emergency" he was so worried about being a possible premium increase.
It's like calling a carjacking an "urgent need for transportation." Each time Republicans presented a bill to reopen the government, Murphy and his Democratic colleagues voted against it.
They're the ones blocking paychecks, yet somehow, it's everyone else's fault.
After Brennan pointed out that even Vice President JD Vance said Democrats won't clearly state what they want, Murphy Murphy defaulted to the knee-jerk reaction every Washington opportunist knows by heart: “You cannot trust this administration.”
Instead of actual, original ideas, this line has become the argument in the modern Democratic playbook.
What I find amazing is how the party that accused Republicans of "political-hostage-taking" in 2018 has since decided that the tactic isn't necessarily a bad thing, as long as the Democrats are the ones issuing demands.
Chris Murphy, who once lamented that federal workers should never be used as pawns seems comfortable now positioning the workers as leverage.
Believing that the reality he's painting is true, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) bragged to reporters that each day the shutdown continues "gets better" for Democrats.
That was the political calculus that real people pay for. The only issue was that Schumer said the quiet part out loud.
Ever the team player, Murphy downplayed Schumer's remarks and claimed people were "desperately trying to spin what Democrats are saying."
Murphy's defense wasn't nearly good enough, because Schumer's words were abundantly clear; the longer the Schumer-Shutdown goes on, the more they try pinning chaos on President Donald Trump and the GOP.
It's all optics, human cost be damned!
Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman broke ranks, calling the shutdown “silly” and voting to reopen the government.
In a bubble where ego often outweighs reason, Fetterman at least recognizes that punishing Americans to score points is a lousy look, making him one of the few on the Democrat left willing to act like an adult.
Scoring 8.5, 8.5, and 9.0 from the judges, Murphy's rhetorical gymnastics, simultaneously serving as a moral crusade and a public service, continue to impress.
The logic Murphy is using is as slippery as wet marble floors in the Capitol rotunda, insisting the shutdown is justified because the Democrats must "prevent disaster for families" while "addressing the destruction of democracy."
That's a line best suited for an applause line fit for cable news, but not for governing. If the new loophole for hypocrisy is the definition of the word "emergency," then moral panic will be the result of every future budget fight.
Nothing, not one bloody thing, will ever get done unless one side is held hostage over the greater good.
Senator Murphy mastered the art of moral laundering, where political power is washed in the warm water of virtue until it gleams.
Once, Senator Chris Murphy said, "You can't hold the American people hostage to score political points."
He was right.
Then he did it anyway.
In an attempt to rename old-fashioned brinksmanship as "emergency action," the Democrats aren't fooling anybody outside their echo chamber.
In their world, federal workers remain pawns and families remain in the crossfire.
And the only hostage left in Washington remains the truth.
The so-called “Schumer Shutdown” isn’t about protecting families or democracy. It’s about power, and Democrats like Chris Murphy are holding the nation hostage to keep it. They’ve shut down the government, blamed everyone else, and tried to sell it as an “emergency.”
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