Not a Fake Fight: Casar pushes Democrats to resist shutdown and defend health care
Progressives press leadership to stand firm as funding deadline nears, arguing a shutdown would jeopardize health coverage for millions.
With federal funding set to expire on Wednesday, Democrats face a high-stakes choice: risk a government shutdown to secure health-care concessions or accept a Republican stopgap. Rep. Greg Casar, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told TIME that Democrats cannot "settle for crumbs" and must fight harder than they did in March, when Senate Democrats helped avert a shutdown without concessions.
Casar's comments come four days before the deadline, illustrating how the progressive bloc is pressing leadership to take a tougher negotiating line. Any resolution will rest with Senate Democrats, who must decide whether to provide the votes Republicans need to clear the 60-vote threshold.
Trump has leaned into threats to lay off federal workers if funding lapses, presenting shutdown risk as a measure of Democrats' resistance. Casar said the budget gambit is dangerous and that Trump "sold out congressional Republicans" by presenting the plan publicly, flipping the dynamics and making it harder for Democrats to back a clean extension without concessions.
Why health care? Casar argues that the fight centers on extending Affordable Care Act subsidies and reversing Medicaid cuts. He said 15 million people are about to lose their health care, 20 million more Americans could see their health-care premiums nearly double, and a broad swath of the population could face higher prices or reduced access as the money leaves the health-care system. Rural clinics are already reporting closures, he added, underscoring what he calls a real-life health-care crisis, not a routine political dispute.
Casar has framed the dispute as a test of whether Democrats will embrace economic populism and clearly defend working people against the pressures of the wealthiest interests. He argued that the party’s identity is at stake: sixty years ago, Democrats were widely seen as the party of working people; today, he says, that perception has faded, and the shutdown fight offers a chance to restore it by fighting for health care for all.
The party faces a fork in the road: Republicans have floated a seven-week extension that would keep the government open while negotiations continue, but Casar contends that the proposal would be a path to further rollbacks in health coverage. He dismissed calls from some House Republicans and Senate allies who would pair a funding bill with ACA subsidies later, saying that promising future votes while denying millions their coverage is not a credible public policy choice. He argued that Democrats cannot endorse a plan to kick 15 million people off their health care, regardless of how it is marketed on Capitol Hill or in the press.
Historically, Casar noted, a previous standoff in 2018 ended with a Democratic concession that did not yield lasting rights for Dreamers—a memory many progressives cite as a cautionary tale about folding to short-term deals. He suggested that today’s moment requires real leverage: a willingness to stand firm against a shutdown even if it risks political backlash, because the stakes are measured in health care for millions of Americans.
Who will be held accountable if the government shuts down? Casar said responsibility would fall primarily on President Donald Trump, who has amplified the threat while casting blame on Democrats. He argued that Trump has used the crisis to rally political support for his tax agenda and that the president’s approach has complicated negotiations for both parties. Democrats, for their part, must be prepared to vote to restore funding and protect health care if a viable path forward emerges, while resisting pressure to endorse short-term fixes that undermine long-term protections.
As the deadline approaches, Casar’s stance represents a broader test for the Democratic Party: whether to present a united front that foregrounds health care and working-people protections, even at the risk of a shutdown, or to accept a deal that preserves government funding but leaves major policy concessions on the table. If the White House and Senate Democrats can align on a durable health-care framework, the outcome could reshape the political narrative ahead of next year’s midterm elections. Until then, Casar and the Congressional Progressive Caucus will likely continue to press leadership to keep the pressure on, signaling that for a significant portion of the party, this is more than a budget fight—it is a defining moment over what Democrats stand for when tested on the health of everyday Americans.