Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is drawing fire from Republicans after declaring that “every day gets better for us” Democrats during the government shutdown, which dragged into its ninth day Thursday.
“Democrats couldn’t care less whether military families miss a paycheck tomorrow. In an interview posted this morning, the Democratic leader said, ‘Every day gets better for us,’” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) fumed on the Senate floor.
“This isn’t a political game. Democrats might feel that way, but I don’t know of anybody else that does,” he declared. “The longer this goes on, the more the American people realize that Democrats own this shutdown.”
Thune cited a new Morning Consult poll that showed Democrats are getting more blame for the shutdown. The poll showed 43 percent of voters blamed Republicans for the shutdown while 38 percent blamed Democrats, but the number of respondents who blamed Democrats was up 6 points compared with an earlier poll.
Thune made his comments in response to Schumer’s comments in an interview with Punchbowl in which he asserted: “Every day gets better for us.”
“It’s because we’ve thought about this long in advance, and we knew that health care would be the focal point on Sept. 30, and we prepared for it,” he said.
Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) pounced on Schumer’s comments as tone deaf.
“He said every day gets better for us. Who is us? Not better for the American people. Who does he mean by us? Not the military who’s not getting paid. Not the Border Patrol who’s not getting paid. Not the traffic controllers who are not getting paid,” he said on the Senate floor.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) highlighted Schumer’s comments on social media.
“Democrats are having a lot of fun shutting down the government, a real blast! Are the American people feeling better every day?” Lee posted on social platform X.
Vice President Vance also piled on. “Better for Schumer. Worse for Americans. What a vile sentiment from an alleged leader in our country,” he posted on X.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Schumer’s comments “disgusting and revealing.”
“While federal workers stress over missed paychecks, military families turn to food pantries, and airports around the country face delays — Chuck Schumer and the Democrats are bragging that ‘every day gets better’ for them,” Leavitt posted on X.