Chuck's Gonna Do It Again

I know I always say this will be short, but this one will actually be short. Under 1000 words, for SURE. So short we’ll do it in bullet points. We’re talking about this:

• Chuck Schumer is heavily pumping out the message that he’s playing hardball with Republicans. He needs to do this because in March, instead of playing hardball, he folded and gave the Republicans the votes they needed to pass a budget extension.

• Chuck is very carefully framing this as different from last time. In his telling, Trump is less popular and Republicans have less leverage so if they want their bill to pass they better make a real deal with Democrats.

• [Reality Check: Republican support of Republicans is over 80%, and they’re literally redrawing their state congressional maps to make sure every district is a safely GOP district.]

• But Chuck is promising the bill will only get done if Republicans promise specific funding asks in their bill.

• [Reality Check: The White House and Republlican Senate’s extensive use of rescission means they can undo anything they promise Democrats, without needing any Democratic votes.]

So what is Chuck demanding the Trump administration change about this year?

HEALTH CARE.

So to be clear, here’s a quick list of things Chuck Schumer, who is willing to shut down the government, does NOT think it’s worth shutting the government down over:

• Masked ICE gangs stopping people based on speaking Spanish, putting them in hastily constructed prisons, or shipping them out to third party countries.

• Using tariffs to destroy the American economy and supercharge inflation.

• Ending USAID’s work abroad to provide medical care and food to kids.

• Firing RFK Jr, who has ended mRNA research and is anti-vaccine.

• Restoring funding to PBS/NPR.

• Restarting green energy initiatives that supported jobs and new building.

• Pulling the National Guard out of America’s cities.

Chuck hasn’t made any of those conditions of avoiding a shutdown? Why? They’re hard, and Chuck doesn’t have the fortitude or bravery to fight for what’s hard.

So instead, he’ll focus on: extending the Biden-era ACA tax credits that make buying insurance on the Obamacare exchange more affordable, rolling back Medicaid cuts, and funding rural hospitals.

Why did Chuck pick those three? Because they’re all things that some Republicans want too, because it will help them in the midterms. Here’s how:

The ACA tax credits expire at the end of the year. Everyone buying health insurance will pay more… in this economy. Republicans don’t want to extend them on their own because that would tell their voters they support Obamacare. But a very convenient way out is if the Democrats “force” them to as a way to avoid a shutdown. Everyone wins, MAGA and the Democrats ostensibly in opposition to them. MAGA is happy and the Dems look strong, and that’s what Chuck wants.

Chuck also threw out “let’s roll back some of the Medicaid cuts from the One Big Beautiful Bill!” And there are some senators on the right who will agree with him [Josh Hawley 2028 Alert!!!], but Medicaid is the holy grail of entitlement cuts. Republicans got one chance, maybe the one chance in their political lives, to cut it. They are almost certainly not letting it go… unless they represent somewhere particularly decimated by the cuts and they’ll look like heroes. [RING RING JOSH HAWLEY SPEAKING, OH IT’S DESTINY?]

And the last way that Chuck Schumer is going to service MAGA while pretending he’s a fighter is rural hospital cuts. Who, pray tell, made those rural hospital cuts? Oh, the Republicans as part of their One Big Beautiful Bill? A bill they had to rush through before coalitions fell apart and it hit a deadline? I bet if they had a second chance, Republicans sure would love to fund those rural hospitals they all agreed to defund!

When you look at what’s coming nationally, it looks like the Republicans made a real mess they made for themselve— oh, wait, what’s that? It’s Chuck Schumer’s music! He’s throwing them a lifeline for 2026! He’s making sure the consequences of their actions never come to pass!

So please, see the stories for what they are: Schumer talking to his old old media friends to pre-heat the stories of how he fought and won for the Democrats, when in reality he’s what the Republicans dream about: a pushover.

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