A prominent Democrat has seemingly acknowledged a difficult reality concerning the ongoing government shutdown, now in its fourth week.
Katherine Clark, a Representative from Massachusetts and the Minority Whip of the U.S. House of Representatives, conceded that the hardships faced by families during the shutdown are perceived as ‘leverage’ by her party for political maneuvering.
“Shutdowns are awful. Families will undoubtedly face hardships, and we take that responsibility seriously. However, it is one of the few times we have leverage,” Clark remarked.
Clark made these comments in an interview with Chad Pergram, Fox News Channel’s Senior Congressional Correspondent. Her words drew criticism from several congressional Republicans and were highlighted in the White House press briefing room earlier this week.
Reporters at the White House were taken aback when the video was displayed on the briefing screens, circulating throughout the day as news circulated.
Wisconsin Republican Congressman Derrick Van Orden tweeted, “This is precisely what Chuck Schumer intended when he said, ‘Every day gets better for us.'”
Texas GOP Senator John Cornyn noted in his own X post, ‘It is shameful to use the American people as leverage to push your radical agenda. Millions of Americans are suffering, also adding, “Democrats don’t care.”‘
Iowa Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who represents one of the most competitive House seats, called Clark’s comments ‘disgraceful’, also stating that the ‘Democrat leaders are perfectly okay with American families suffering.’
Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., the House minority whip, is joined at right by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., during a news conference on day 22 of the government shutdown to discuss the how the crisis can impact health care, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) (C) delivers remarks at a news conference on the government shutdown at the U.S. Capitol on October 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. Johnson held the news conference with members of the Main Street Caucus
Clark’s comments come as nearly half of Americans say that the shutdown has had no impact on their lives.
An Economist/YouGov poll conducted from October 17th to 20th that garnered 1,621 responses showed that 49 percent of Americans say the shutdown is ‘not at all’ affecting them personally.
Last week, Donald Trump ordered members of the military to receive pay during the government shutdown.
The president has ruled that they will be paid using any available funds from the Fiscal Year 2026 budget that Congress has already appropriated.
Republicans have supported a short-term measure to fund the government generally at current levels through November 21 but Democrats blocked it, insisting the measure address their concerns on health care.
On October 1, the first day of the shutdown, the President said he would with meet with Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought ‘to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent.’
Vought told House Republicans that many of those workers would be targeted for permanent layoffs to be announced in the next day or two, echoing Trump spokesman Karoline Leavitt’s threat that firings were ‘imminent.’
Trump has emphasized that he views cutbacks as a way of increasing pain on Democrats, arguing that ‘we can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible by them. Like cutting vast numbers of people out.’
But the messaging on layoffs has been mixed, with Vice-President JD Vance saying that workforce reductions are a necessary evil that the administration would rather avoid.
Vance told reporters federal agencies were not being targeted based on politics, but added: ‘Let’s be honest – if this thing drags on for another few days or, God forbid, another few weeks, we are going to have to lay people off.’
Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his House of Representatives counterpart Hakeem Jeffries have dismissed the threats of layoffs as an attempt at intimidation and said mass firings would not stand up in court.
Three Senate Democrats have broke with their colleagues to fund the government, but the rest have been voting against a House-passed resolution to keep the government funded.
For now, Democrats are dug in on their demands for extending healthcare subsidies before they will agree to a funding deal.
Five additional Democratic votes would be needed to reach the 60-vote threshold in the 100-member Senate to green-light the House-passed bill.
House Republican Speaker Mike Johnson noted Tuesday that ‘Democrats in Congress have voted 12 times to keep the government closed down.’
