U.S. congressional Democrats are locked in a fierce debate over whether they should act to shut down the federal government to protest what they describe as President Donald Trump’s lawless conduct. The tactic would mean either withholding votes that Republicans need to pass a short-term measure to keep the government running after Sept. 30 (called a continuing resolution) or, alternatively, filibustering spending bills in the Senate. Jeffries and Schumer preferred to keep negotiating.

A government shutdown is looming. On Sept. 11, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that he and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries would demand specific health care provisions, including a reversal of the Medicaid cuts that were part of the recently passed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” along with concrete assurances that the president could not undo them after passage, to keep the government running. But after they sought a meeting with Trump on the subject, the president announced on Sept. 23 that he had canceled it.

A government shutdown is looming. On Sept. 11, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that he and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries would demand specific health care provisions, including a reversal of the Medicaid cuts that were part of the recently passed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” along with concrete assurances that the president could not undo them after passage, to keep the government running. But after they sought a meeting with Trump on the subject, the president announced on Sept. 23 that he had canceled it.

U.S. congressional Democrats are locked in a fierce debate over whether they should act to shut down the federal government to protest what they describe as President Donald Trump’s lawless conduct. The tactic would mean either withholding votes that Republicans need to pass a short-term measure to keep the government running after Sept. 30 (called a continuing resolution) or, alternatively, filibustering spending bills in the Senate. Jeffries and Schumer preferred to keep negotiating.

New York Times columnist and podcaster Ezra Klein recently intensified the internal Democratic debate with a column urging t