How a dubious federal shutdown gives Dems a brief voice in Washington | Opinion
With no end in sight to the federal government shutdown, a leading California Democrat believes the partisan conflict over health care is worth fighting for, even if it’s wrong for a minority of U.S. Senators from both sides of the aisle to bring Washington to a standstill.
Health care “is the issue that people talk about the most,” said Ro Khanna, the Democratic Congressman from Silicon Valley who has a way of being in the center of the political ring when the two parties exhibit their largest contrasts.
At the moment, it is the Senate Democrats who aren’t putting up sufficient votes to keep the government going as Republicans refuse to maintain a crucial health care benefit for 24 million Americans. These workers and retirees awaiting Medicare eligibility at age 65 are among those who rely on coverage via the Affordable Care Act, passed by the Barack Obama administration.
For a typical participant, the Republican plan to end the subsidies later this year will cause monthly premiums to increase from about $900 to more than $1,900, according to independent estimates. Making matters worse for Republican legislators is how more than half of Americans facing huge premium increases via Obamacare live in their districts.
This is not a winning issue for either party to maintain a government shutdown. For now, Republican leadership is insisting that Senate Democrats provide the necessary votes to resume full government operations before any negotiations on anything can occur. That is an offer that Democrats are easily refusing. And there’s no end in sight.
“There isn’t the sense of urgency to resolve it the way there has been in other shutdowns,” Khanna said Thursday in a meeting with the McClatchy California Editorial Board, comprised of opinion journalists from The Sacramento Bee, Fresno Bee, and San Luis Obispo Tribune.
A separate question is whether the minority party should have the power to shut down the government in the first place. Here is where Khanna, a long-time opponent of a Senate filibuster rule that requires 60 votes to advance most matters, is against his or any minority party shutting Washington down.
“You can confirm one of Trump’s appointees with 51 senators,” Khanna said. “You can confirm a judge with 51 senators. Why shouldn’t you be able to keep government open with 51 Senators?”
Khanna’s broader motive, longer-term, is for Democrats, when in power, to advance reforms without interference from a handful of holdouts. But for now, this is a moment that Democrats are testing the little power that they currently have in Washington, with Donald Trump in the White House and Congress controlled by Republicans. For having been so dominated in Trump’s eight months in office and being even less popular than the president, what do Democrats now really have to lose?
Health care proved to be a secondary issue in the 2024 presidential election, while Trump masterfully advanced a form of conservative populism that fed on the public’s frustration with immigration, government, and rising fuel and grocery costs. But Trump and recent predecessors have little to slow health care increases running at about double the rate of inflation. Making matters worse for millions more Americans is how they will lose their federally-funded Medicaid insurance as part of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” conveniently timed to kick in after Americans have cast their votes in the 2026 mid-term elections.
“The broader issue is the cost of living and the decline of the American dream, and that is what the Democratic Party needs to fundamentally speak about,” Khanna said.
As for finding that broader voice, Khanna gives his party a “C plus,” up from a “D” grade at the start of Trump’s term. If nothing else, the shutdown provides a platform to elevate the health care issue amid the most crowded political playing field in the modern era, as Trump wages unresolved battles against American universities, Democratically-controlled major cities like Chicago and colored residents at risk of detention by ICE officers.
Khanna’s hunch is that this shutdown lingers until enough Americans feel the impact, such as cancelled flights due to a shortage of air traffic controllers. Then all sides will feel pressure to commence real negotiations. He’s probably right. The art of collaboration appears lost in Washington right now.
Who knows whether this chapter marks when Democrats begin to find their stride. The disparate voices among the party, Khanna among them, are hardly amounting to a clear and unified chorus.
In the meantime, it may be wrong for 40 senators to shut down Washington. But they’re right to expose how Republicans have no clue as to how to provide adequate health care to voters throughout this country, something they should own come election time.
This story was originally published October 10, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "How a dubious federal shutdown gives Dems a brief voice in Washington | Opinion."