A budget battle offers Democrats a chance to show some backbone
They need a clearer strategy first
THE CLIFFHANGER is familiar. Funding for the federal government expires on September 30th: welcome to shutdown season. In theory, the president proposes a budget, Congress negotiates and legislation is signed into law ahead of the new fiscal year, which begins on October 1st. But this is Washington and so, with just three weeks to do a deal, prediction markets place the odds of a shutdown at around 50%.
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This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Schumer’s dilemma”
From the September 13th 2025 edition
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Who’s afraid of the Democratic Socialists?
They may prove to be the left’s populist alternative to Trumpism
San Francisco’s recall fever
How much democracy is too much?
The pitfalls of being a non-profit that is beholden to government
Planned Parenthood and the consequences of defunding it
Charlie Kirk challenged liberals until the day he was murdered
The activist embodied a fiery style of conservatism and energised young voters
The ICE raid at Hyundai was a massive own goal
Georgia spent years wooing the foreign carmaker
The invasion of Chicago has been postponed
Lots of headlines, some protests, but no crackdown