Democrats warning that Republicans are to be blamed in a government shutdown over refusing to give in to liberal immigration demands gave a much different argument in the 2013 shutdown when they dubbed GOP leaders “legislative arsonists” for demanding Obamacare changes in exchange for keeping the government open.
“The basic line is: No matter how strongly one feels about an issue, you shouldn’t hold millions of people hostage. That’s what the other side is doing. That’s wrong and we can’t give in to that,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer.
“I call them ‘legislative arsonists,’” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. “They’re there to burn down what we should be building up in terms of investments and education and scientific research, and all that it is that makes our country great and competitive,” she added.
In 2013, Republicans sought changes to Obamacare in the shutdown fight and were accused of hurting people by refusing to budge during the 16-day closure. In the 2018 shutdown fight, Democrats are seeking protection for some 700,000 illegal immigrants granted protection by the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
Schumer, the Senate minority leader, summed up the arguments in both battles nicely in this 2013 quote that also previewed the current fight, telling ABC:
“[Former House] Speaker [John] Boehner comes in and he says, basically, it’s sorta like this. Someone goes into your house, takes your wife and children hostage, and then says ‘Let’s negotiate over the price of your house.’ You know, we could do the same thing on immigration. We believe strongly in immigration reform. We could say, ‘We’re shutting down the government, we’re not gonna raise the debt ceiling, until you pass immigration reform.’ It would be governmental chaos.”
Pelosi called the 2013 GOP bid an “unthinkable tactic.” She told ABC, “I join the American people in their disgust in what happened in terms of the shutdown of government. That’s an unthinkable tactic to use in a political debate.”
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee at the time, ripped the GOP as “unhinged” during the shutdown.
And even Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a leading challenger to President Trump in the 2020 election, got in on the fight.
In a comment that has 2018 overtones, he said, “Our Republican friends in the House are trying to annul the election that took place last November. Some of them were shocked that Obama won and that he won by 5 million votes.”
He added, “Ultimately, what we are dealing with tonight is an extraordinary anti-democratic act. Every member of the Senate has strong feelings, sometimes we win, sometimes we lose, but when you are in the minority—they do not control the White House, they do not control the United States Senate—they cannot force the American people to give them what they want.”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
