House Speaker Mike Johnson, right, is using Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's, left, and other Democrats' words against them in a memo on the looming government shutdown threat. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
The rest of the memo features a list of Democrats' comments, beginning with then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., warning on Sept. 16, 2024, "If the government shuts down, it will be average Americans who suffer most."
At the time, the Democrat-controlled Senate was negotiating with the House GOP majority under then-President Joe Biden to avert a government shutdown. That stand-off ended with Biden signing a short-term extension of the previous fiscal year's government funding levels on Sept. 26, 2024 — days before the Sept. 30 shutdown deadline — through Dec. 20, 2024.
Johnson's memo also referenced comments by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., from Jan. 4, 2018, during President Donald Trump's first term: "The truth is that shutting down the government is a serious and dangerous action that we must do everything possible to prevent. Shutting down the government would impact tens of millions of our fellow Americans who would be unable to access government services."
Senate Democrats, then in the minority, agreed to the GOP's short-term funding bill in exchange for public assurances for a vote on immigration legislation.
Anna Bahr, a spokesperson for Sanders, told Fox News Digital that the Senator "absolutely still believes that a government shutdown is serious and dangerous, and urges the Trump administration and his Republican colleagues not to do it," but that he's been clear he'd support Senate Democrats' counter-proposal over the GOP's bill.
"President Trump’s party controls the House, Senate, and White House and has the responsibility of keeping the government open," Bahr said.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he leaves the White House in Washington, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
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Now both parties are blaming one another for a potential shutdown — which could hit at midnight on Oct. 1 if a deal is not passed in both chambers by then.
Republicans are accusing Democrats of recklessly pushing for a shutdown and making unworkable demands in exchange for keeping the government open. They've also pointed out that government funding levels have remained relatively steady since fiscal year (FY) 2024, when Democrats supported then-President Joe Biden's spending priorities.
But Democrats, infuriated by being sidelined in discussions on the bill, have also been pushing for the inclusion of enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies that are set to expire at the end of 2025 without congressional action.
Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Schumer and Murphy, but did not immediately hear back.
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/speaker-johnson-flips-script-dem-leaders-staunch-warning-against-government-shutdown