Inside D.C.

The Shutdown is Getting Stupider

Last week I told you the stalwart opposition by congressional Democrats to President Trump’s dream of a “wall” along the U.S.-Mexican border was all about embarrassing the president going into the 2020 elections. The president’s dedication to the wall is all about campaign promises made in 2016 and his zeal to keep that promise. Those things are still true.

However, in the spirit of full disclosure, I fully expected a deal would have been cut by now to reopen the government. I was wrong. Daily, I get calls asking when is this ordeal going to be over? Truth – I have no earthly idea. I underestimated the resolve of all parties involved, while apparently overestimating their individual and collective smarts.

The reality is this is no longer, if it ever was, an honest dispute over how best to solve the problem of illegal immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border. It has devolved into a very public battle over who’s tougher, who’s the person with the most power in the room. Judging by behaviors on both sides of this dispute, this is not the proudest moment for any of the major players.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D, CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D, NY) did a smart thing in offering to reopen all shuttered government offices – save for the Department of Homeland Security – thereby at least appearing to be reasonable. Trump rejected the offer, obviously suspecting the lawmakers’ goal is to neutralize his ability to use 350,000 frustrated furloughed federal employees and hamstrung public services to exert political pressure to get their way. The president miscalculated because in the bright light of public perception as shaped by the mainstream media, the Pelosi/Schumer gambit comes off as reasonable. The president does not.

Trump’s clarion call of a “national emergency” justifying an executive order allowing him to use unobligated Pentagon funds to build a wall of some sort rings hollow. While the statistics are grim and the problem is very real – despite what Pelosi, Schumer and their mouthpieces would have us believe – most every-day Joes and Janes aren’t directly or consistently impacted by immigrations problems at the southern border. A “national emergency” declaration will only prolong this agony by throwing the whole debate into the courts.

All the shutdown theatrics and personal pettiness, including the name calling and finger-pointing, is Washington, DC, at its worst. This behavior also gives lie to the promises made by both sides of the aisle during the November election.

Trump, Pelosi and Schumer seem to believe the U.S. citizenry signed up to be foot soldiers in this war of words and political wills when they did not. They also seem to believe there are acceptable casualties from “friendly fire” in these ego wars when there aren’t.

Trump, Pelosi and Schumer aren’t stupid people. However, that fact begs the question: Why are they acting like they are?