Senate Democrats' Haunted Hold on Government

It’s Halloween in America, and the porch lights of Washington are flickering. Tonight, the American people knock on the door of D.C. Senate Democrats — only to be handed a box of stale raisins and a creepy grin that taunts their credulous base. Thirty-one days into a shutdown and families aren’t getting sweets; they’re getting spooked — by overdue bills, lapsed benefits, and a government that can’t perform.

Let’s start with how the Senate actually works, because behind the cobwebs and jump scares is a simple procedure. Republicans hold only 53 seats, but the Senate’s rules require 60 votes to pass key legislation — like a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government. That 60-vote threshold is portrayed as a myth by Schumer and the gang, but it’s the modern reality of Senate procedure, a rule set that has made bipartisan buy-in the key that unlocks the chamber’s door.

A CR is supposed to be the handful of fun-size candy bars that slip into your basket: quick, simple, and enough to tide everyone over. Keep the lights on, keep paychecks moving, ensure food security — then negotiate over the full course feast. But Senate Democrats are running a different house this year, and the décor is willfully wicked. Rather than keeping government open, they’ve demanded a heap of radical add-ons — funding proposals that can’t pass on their own and don’t belong in a short-term bridge bill. It’s legislative trick-or-treating with a ransom note: “Give us what we want, or the country will suffer.”

Meanwhile, everyday Americans are paying the price. The longer this drags on, the more families feel the chill. SNAP benefits — the very definition of a kitchen-table priority — are being held hostage as a bargaining chip for their host of unrelated funding faux pas. That means empty grocery carts and families in a bind, not because Americans won’t work, but because Senate Democrats won’t work together. Newsrooms across the country have documented the looming benefits during this historic shutdown and the scramble by states and food banks to pick up the slack.

And it’s not just food. Federal workers — park rangers, air traffic controllers, clerks, veterans-support staff — have become the extras in a cheap slasher film, doing what’s needed to create the perfect effect while the script calls for “unpaid” in scene after scene. They still have to show up. They still have to do the work. But the paycheck? That’s the jump scare. For now, the work is real, but the pay is a phantom.

Senate Democrats insist this is about “leverage.” In plainer English, they’re using the pain of the public as a hedge to fund priorities they can’t pass in broad daylight. The 60-vote rule is not a partisan trap — Republicans don’t love it when they’re in the majority either — but it is the Senate’s design. You build consensus, or you pare it back to what can get support on both sides of the aisle. That’s why CRs exist. They are meant to be supplemental; not Trojan horses stuffed with partisan ploys.

Here’s the hard truth: if Senate Democrats wanted Americans to wake up from the nightmare, they could provide 7 votes and spend November persuading Republicans and the rest of America why their funding proposals should make the final cut. Instead, they continue to vote against feeding families, a functional government, and a happy ending to their fright fest.

The contrast couldn’t be clearer. Republicans have been ready to keep the lights on — paychecks for federal workers, certainty for families, stability for markets, and uninterrupted food assistance for those who need it.

Some will say, “This is how negotiations work.” But real negotiations keep the restaurant open while you argue about the menu. You don’t lock the doors, toss out supplies, and dare the people to find another option. A clean CR is the civic equivalent of keeping the stove burning. Pass it. Then go to conference, fight competing personalities over toplines and policy riders, and make your case in the sunlight where Americans can judge the merits — without their paychecks and groceries held hostage.

And about those “radical funding proposals”? If they’re so popular, bring them as standalone bills. Let senators publicly attach their names. Let the committees hold hearings. Let the American people see the true price tag without a funhouse mirror that I know many of you have embarrassingly smacked your forehead on. The Senate’s 60-vote standard exists precisely to force this kind of consensus or restraint.

As trick-or-treaters flood the streets asking that simple question, we all know the answer from Democrats — all tricks, no treats. Tricks are for magicians. Treats are for kids. The Senate’s job is to serve US.

So, here’s the ask: no more games. Take off the mask, put down the cider, and give the people what they deserve — dutiful, responsible government — and save the suspense and horror for the next Stephen King novel.