Thinknews
Dec 20, 2025

Schumer Threatens To Shut Govt Down Amid Fury From Base

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) faces the ultimate political test this fall as Congress prepares for a high-stakes showdown over the Fiscal Year 2026 funding bill. With an October 1 deadline looming, Schumer is caught between a Republican-controlled Congress and an increasingly furious Democratic base that is demanding a "scorched-earth" strategy to block President Trump’s agenda.

The tension comes at a time of existential crisis for the Democratic Party. A stunning new analysis of voter registration data reveals a 4.5 million-voter swing toward the GOP since 2020, fueling fears that the party’s traditional coalition is collapsing under the weight of President Trump’s expanding "Make America Great Again" movement.


The Voter Registration Collapse

New data from L2, a nonpartisan firm, paints a sobering picture for the Democratic leadership. For the first time since 2018, more new voters are registering as Republicans than Democrats, marking a relentless trend that some experts are calling a "death cycle."

  • The 4.5 Million Swing: Democrats have shed approximately 2.1 million registrants, while Republicans have gained 2.4 million since the 2020 election.

  • National Erosion: Out of the 30 states that track partisan registration, Democrats lost ground to Republicans in every single one.

  • The Margin Crisis: The 11-point registration lead Democrats held over Republicans in 2020 has plummeted to just six points in 2024.

“There is no silver lining or cavalry coming across the hill,” Michael Pruser, director of data science for Decision Desk HQ, told the New York Times. “This is month after month, year after year.”

The Shutdown Threat and Party Infighting

As Schumer attempts to negotiate the FY2026 budget, his own supporters are turning on him. Critics point to a March vote where Schumer and eight other Democrats allowed a Republican-led stopgap bill to bypass a filibuster, a move the base viewed as a total surrender.

In a joint letter with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Schumer urged GOP leadership to meet and discuss ways to "avert a painful, unnecessary lapse in government funding." However, with Republicans holding a 53-47 edge in the Senate and a 219-212 majority in the House, Schumer has little leverage other than the threat of a government-wide shutdown.

“Bidenomics is what got us into this mess,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) countered recently. “Republican policies are bringing down inflation and growing the economy at 5%. The American people see it, and they are rewarding us at the ballot box.”

The data suggests that Trump’s reach among men, younger voters, and Latinos is reshaping traditional partisan loyalties ahead of the 2026 Midterm cycle. Even in deep-blue California, Democratic registration has seen significant erosion.

As the October deadline approaches, Schumer remains defiant, refusing calls from within his own party to step down. Whether he can hold his fractured caucus together long enough to extract concessions from the Trump administration remains the most critical question in Washington.

Hegseth: Iran's New Supreme Leader Wounded, Disfigured

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed on Friday that Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was wounded during recent U.S.-Israeli military actions, adding that the leader is likely "disfigured."

In a forceful briefing shown live on Newsmax, Hegseth stated that the Iranian regime is reeling after nearly two weeks of sustained strikes. The absence of any public video or voice messages from Khamenei since the operation began, Hegseth argued, "speaks volumes" about the state of his health.


A Regime "Desperate and Hiding"

Hegseth described Iran's ruling class as "desperate and hiding," noting that the leadership is currently struggling to communicate or coordinate.

“We know the new so-called not-so-supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured,” Hegseth said. He was joined by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan "Razin" Caine, who assessed that Iran's air defenses are effectively non-existent, its air force is grounded, and its navy has been shattered.


"Operation Epic Fury" Enters Day 13

General Caine reported continued progress in Operation Epic Fury, which remains focused on four primary military objectives:

  1. Destroy Iran’s missile threat.

  2. Cripple the regime's defense industrial base.

  3. Break Iranian naval power.

  4. Deny the regime any path to a nuclear weapon.

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