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By Shane Croucher
Senior Editor
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The White House and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson seized on Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer's latest remark about the government shutdown, accusing him of "celebrating" while Americans suffer.
It is the latest volley in the blame game between Republicans and Democrats as they each try to convince voters the other is at fault for the shutdown, with both parties eyeing the 2026 midterm elections—a contest that will test support for President Donald Trump's hardline agenda and one that could either accelerate or hinder it in the final two years of his term.
Schumer told Punchbowl News on Wednesday that "every day gets better for us" in his party's showdown with the Republicans over extending health care subsidies that are about to expire— the Democrats' price for voting to reopen the government.
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"While Schumer is celebrating, Americans are suffering," the White House said in a Thursday morning post on X, sharing Schumer's remarks. "America last. Every. Single. Time."
Johnson, also sharing an image of Schumer alongside the comments, posted to X: "Yesterday, Chuck Schumer—the engineer of the painful shutdown—told Punchbowl the following. Incredible."
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In his comments to Punchbowl, Schumer had added of the Democrats' shutdown strategy: “It’s because we’ve thought about this long in advance and we knew that health care would be the focal point on September 30 and we prepared for it… Their whole theory was—threaten us, bamboozle us, and we would submit in a day or two.”
Trump Wants Deal When Government Opens
The Democrats have accused the Republicans of avoiding the issue of extending the tax credits under the Affordable Care Act—better known as Obamacare—for months, until now they are due to expire, which threatens to drive up health insurance premiums for Americans. They are trying to force an extension via a shutdown.
But Republicans say they are willing to negotiate only when the government is reopened, and are proposing a "clean" short-term stopgap funding bill that extends current funding for several weeks to allow for bipartisan negotiations on the full appropriations package.
On Monday, President Donald Trump said in the Oval Office that he would like to see a deal on health care, but later emphasized that this can only happen if the government is opened.
“We have a negotiation going on right now with the Democrats that could lead to very good things,” Trump told reporters. “And I’m talking about good things with regard to health care.”
He later wrote on his Truth Social platform: “I am happy to work with the Democrats on their Failed Healthcare Policies, or anything else, but first they must allow our Government to re-open. In fact, they should open our Government tonight!”
Schumer noted that it had "been a full week of Donald Trump's government shutdown" in a Wednesday post on Facebook, saying more than 700,000 federal employees had been furloughed.
"Disruptions to critical services. Businesses nationwide with government contracts are in peril. Because Donald Trump and the Republicans would rather close the government than fix healthcare for millions of Americans," Schumer added.
Updated, 10/9/2025, 10:15 a.m. ET: This article was updated with more information.
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