Analyst highlights 'risky' way Dems could flip GOP's power

As congressional Democrats struggle to counter President Donald Trump's disruption to the federal government, Slate writer Jim Newell suggested that threatening a government shutdown might work to their advantage.

In a new article, Newell wrote, "Funding for the government expires March 14. Republicans will need Democratic votes to keep the government open. They’ll need Democratic votes in the Senate to surmount the 60-vote filibuster threshold, and they’ll need Democratic votes in the House, where the narrow Republican majority is a mess."

Newell continued, "In theory, then, the deadline will give Democrats their first leverage point to put some brakes on the executive branch."

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However, Newell wrote, "It’s easy to overestimate and overstate the extent of their leverage, and it’s a hand they can overplay." In other words, Democrats could end up alienating Republicans altogether, ending in an all-too-familiar political "slog."

For now, Newell wrote, Democrats are "working to put the ball in Republicans’ court: Republicans run the government, and it’s their responsibility to fund the government."

He quoted Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) saying, “Here’s the bottom line. The Republicans are already shutting down good chunks of the government. Democrats don’t want to shut down, but it’s in Republicans’ hands; it’s up to them.”

According to Newell, "The message here is that Republicans would be blamed for any shutdown since they’re the governing party, and also because Republicans are, in fact, to blame for most of the shutdowns we’ve had in recent years."

He concluded, "The deadline, then, may give Democrats their first real leverage point, and the temptation to stockpile a laundry list of demands is understandable. But it’s not the strongest element in their tool kit. Litigation, by contrast, is the most immediate way to block Trump’s most brazen efforts to unilaterally remake the federal government. And communicating how such changes would negatively affect people’s lives is the long-term means of turning public opinion against the president’s agenda."

Newell called a government shutdown threat "risky"

"But it’s a place they could take a stand," he said.

Read the Slate article here.