The headline on Stefany Shaheen’s fundraising email on Wednesday got straight to the point:
“Donald Trump’s Shutdown.”
“Today, Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress have shut down the federal government, and we will all pay the price,” the Democrat running in the NH-01 primary added.
Shaheen’s email came just hours after her mother, U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, joined Sen. Maggie Hassan and all but three of her fellow Democratic caucus members to cast yet another vote to block a continuing resolution (CR), keeping the government shut down. Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky also voted no.
Like her daughter, Shaheen argued that because the GOP is in power, they are the party to blame.
“The reality is the Republicans control all three branches of government,” Shaheen said in an interview on Wednesday. “So I think ultimately people will question why, given that fact, they have not been able to avoid a shutdown.”
National Review’s Charles C.W. Cooke answered that question on Twitter:
“Because the bill requires 60 votes in the Senate, and the Republicans only have 53. Some Democrats have joined the GOP in voting for the bill, but not enough. That’s fine; they’re allowed to do that. I like the filibuster! But that’s what’s happened.”
This straightforward explanation has not stopped Granite State Democrats from continuing to deny that their votes to block the “clean CR” passed by House Republicans are keeping the government from being funded.
“No one who’s coming at this in good faith wants to see the government shut down,” Rep. Maggie Goodlander told the left-leaning NH Bulletin. “This is a crisis of the Republican Party’s creation, and I’m sorry to say, but that is the truth. We’ve got a Republican-controlled White House, a Republican-controlled Senate, and a Republican-controlled House of Representatives.”
The House version of the clean CR (H.R. 5371) largely maintains current funding levels through Nov. 21, 2025, with minimal additions such as increased security funding for government agencies, including Congress, the White House, and the Supreme Court.
How clean? According to Chris Towner, policy director of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, “The House CR is just about as clean of a CR as you could get. They really did seem to not want to rock the boat with it.”
Democrats are blocking this bill and demanding hundreds of millions of dollars in additional spending, or they will keep the government closed. While various proposals have been presented, most of the discussion focuses on extending the COVID-era “emergency” increased Obamacare subsidies for higher earners.
By turning it into a fight over health care, Democrats believe the shutdown can be a political winner.
“When it comes to health care, Medicaid, Medicare, I do think this is a winning issue for Democrats,” Democratic strategist Kevin Walling told Fox News on Wednesday. He also acknowledged that Democrats are blocking government funding, which is what he says Democrats want.
“We are itching for this fight. This is something that, obviously, needs 60 votes in the Senate. This is one of the few things that Democrats can do procedurally to force the president and Senate Republicans’ hands. You’re going to see this process play out.”
Republicans also appear to be content with this strategy, planning more votes to give vulnerable Democrats, such as Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), more opportunities to support the shutdown as he heads into the 2026 election.
One of the New Hampshire Republicans hoping to replace Sen. Shaheen, former Ambassador Scott Brown, told NHJournal this CR is “virtually the same thing that the Democrats voted on last time. The Democrats are totally responsible for the shutdown — and Granite Staters know it. They’re smart.
As for Democrats’ motives, Brown said it’s all about the party’s leftwing base.
“Chuck Schumer is fighting for his political life and is doing everything his out-of-touch liberal base wants him to do.”
Another likely GOP U.S. Senate candidate, former Sen. John E. Sununu, agrees. During an appearance on Jack Heath’s radio show on Wednesday morning, he reminded the host that during his time in Congress, “I never voted to shut down the government.
“It never happened during the 12 years I was in the House and Senate, because it’s just not in the interest of New Hampshire,” Sununu said.
“I think that the far left — the people who are driving [Democratic mayor nominee Zohran] Mamdani’s election in New York City, for example — they’re the ones I think are pushing hardest for this.”
