Bob Schwartz

Elected Republicans are thinking a little bit more today about the consequences of their actions and strategies.

Republicans control the House and have shut it down for months. They believe this issue has been lost in the bigger issue of the entire shutdown of the federal government and the damage it is doing and the suffering it has caused. Which, according to them, is all the fault of the Democrats.

That changed today. In light of the election results yesterday, which the president takes personally, he has reversed the claim that Democrats are to blame for the shutdown. He now properly blames the shutdown on the Republicans.

It is easier to open the House. Speaker Johnson can do this in the time it takes to read this post. He may have to bear up under the seating of newly elected Democrat Adelita Grajalva, who would be the deciding vote on demanding release of the infamous Epstein Files. But there is now a concern that Republicans are vulnerable at the polls, and the indisputable charge that they alone are responsible for the House not working at all—can’t blame the Democrats for that—will get noticed. Even if voters aren’t asking questions now, they will.

It is harder to open and restart the federal government, even now that the president has endorsed doing it. The Democratic demand is that SNAP and the ACA subsidies must be assured by Congress in the budget bill. No matter what the Republicans say, voters are also noticing that keeping food from 42 million Americans and cheaper health insurance from millions more is the fault of the Republicans. But not spending money on hungry people and on the health of Americans is part of the current Republican plan. It’s a quandary for Republicans.

So the House will reopen soon, even if it means seating Congresswoman Grijalva, but ending the shutdown may take longer.

© 2025 Bob Schwartz