In a Truth Social post on Wednesday night, former President Donald Trump demanded that Republican lawmakers in Congress shut down the federal government in order to aid him in thwarting the charges against him in the federal grand jury investigations into his actions.
With a funding crisis looming, and no indications that a deal between Democrats and Republicans (much less between Republicans and Republicans) is in motion, the federal government is set to run out of funding by the end of September.
For most Americans, this is worrisome — but Trump appears to view it as an opportunity.
Noting that the deadline for funding is fast approaching, Trump demanded that Republicans let the U.S. run out of funding to “defund all aspects” of the Department of Justice (DOJ), which he baselessly claimed was being weaponized against him by President Joe Biden to investigate and charge him in two separate inquiries.
Trump was indicted this summer for hoarding government documents, including hundreds marked classified, at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, after his departure from the White House, and for obstructing federal agents’ efforts to get them returned. He also faces charges relating to his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
In his post, Trump called a potential government shutdown instigated by Republicans “the last chance to defund these political prosecutions against me and other Patriots.”
“Use the power of the purse and defend the Country!” Trump added.
The former president’s plan is almost certain to backfire for two reasons.
First, while a federal shutdown does affect many aspects of the government, the DOJ and the federal court system would continue to operate. Investigators could continue their inquiries into Trump’s actions, and federal judges would still weigh in on key matters that need to be settled before his projected trial dates next year.
Second, shutting down the government to help Trump would likely hurt both him and Republicans in Congress politically.
Recent polling from Navigator Research shows that voters are nearly split on whom they would blame for a government shutdown, with 34 percent saying it would be Biden’s and Democrats’ fault and 32 percent saying Republicans would be to blame. (Twenty-seven percent would blame both sides.) That number shifts slightly when voters are told why Republicans are clamoring to negotiate a tight spending deal; when explained that the GOP wants to cut social spending programs (including Social Security, nutrition assistance, K-12 education, and more), voters shift their opinions by seven points toward blaming Republicans.
By listening to Trump, who is viewed unfavorably in most national polls, Republicans would likely lose political capital, as voters are generally supportive of the federal investigations into Trump’s actions.
A Politico/Ipsos poll from last month demonstrated that 52 percent of voters believe Trump is guilty in the Mar-a-Lago documents case, while 51 percent think he’s guilty in the election subversion case. What’s more, most Americans want Trump to face trials over his charges (and soon), with 59 percent believing trials should begin before the Republican primaries early next year.
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
After the election, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy