White House slams Schumer for saying continuing shutdown gets ‘better’ for Dems

The White House criticized Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for making a “disgusting and insightful” comment about the ongoing shutdown.

Schumer joined in Punchbowl newsa Washington, D.C.-based newspaper said that things were getting better for Democrats as the shutdown continued.

“Every day gets better for us,” Schumer reportedly told Punchbowl News. “That’s because we thought about it well in advance and knew that health care would be the focus on September 30th and we prepared for it… Their whole theory was: threaten us, deceive us and we would submit in a day or two.”

Republicans blame Schumer for the shutdown to appease the “Marxist flank” amid excitement over AOC’s primary challenge

Republicans blame Schumer for the shutdown, saying it was intended to appease the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, particularly in his home state Zohran Mamdani maintains the lead in the New York City mayoral race and raises eyebrows over Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who may challenge Schumer in the next primary. She has not made an official bid for the Senate.

“Chuck Schumer just said the quiet part out loud: Democrats are gleefully inflicting pain on the American people because they want to give free health care to illegal immigrants,” White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson said in a statement provided exclusively to Fox News Digital.

“Workers are missing paychecks; travelers are missing flights; businesses are struggling; military families are forced to rely on food supplies; but for Chuck Schumer, that means, ‘Every day gets better.’ No matter what Chuck Schumer “Believes it’s not a good thing that Americans are struggling and Democrats need to stop inflicting that pain and reopen the government now,” Jackson added.

In response to Fox News Digital’s request for comment, Schumer’s office sent an excerpt of his remarks on the Senate floor.

“Every day that Republicans refuse to negotiate to end this shutdown, the worse it gets for Americans – and the clearer it becomes who is fighting for them. Every day our cause to improve health care and end this shutdown gets better, stronger, and stronger as families open their letters showing how high their premiums will rise if the Republicans enforce their will. “They see why this fight is important – it’s about protecting their health care, their bank accounts and their future,” Schumer said.

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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also contradicted Schumer and said the shutdown was good for Democrats.

“As federal workers fret over missed paychecks, military families dip into food pantries, and airports across the country face delays – Chuck Schumer and the Democrats brag that ‘every day gets better’ for them,” Leavitt wrote

On Wednesday, the White House said it would tighten the consequences of the shutdown.

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) floated plans that would not guarantee that federal workers currently furloughed because of the shutdown would receive back pay — upending a 2019 presidential law Donald Trump’s first administration after a 35-day shutdown, Fox News Digital has learned.

With every day that Congress fails to pass a funding measure, the risk of furloughed workers not receiving repayments increases the risk — and increases the pressure on Democrats as Trump continues to blame them for causing the crisis.

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Fox News Digital’s Diana Stancy, Deirdre Heavey and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.