The Democrats’ Big Shutdown Gamble

The Daily

The New York Times

Daily News, News

4.4 • 102.8K Ratings

🗓️ 1 October 2025

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The U.S. government shut down on Wednesday morning. For the Democrats, it is an act of resistance against President Trump’s second-term agenda. The question is now whether their gamble will pay off or backfire. In an episode recorded from the Capitol, Catie Edmondson and Carl Hulse, New York Times reporters who cover Congress, tell us what the decision-making looked like inside the building before the shutdown. Then, we have an interview with Senator Chuck Schumer. He explains why he pursued the shutdown in the moments before the vote.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From New York Times, I'm Michael Barrow.
0:04.5	This is the Daily.
0:08.0	I am standing in the rotunda of the United States Capitol, where as of just a few moments ago, the federal government has officially begun to shut down.
0:19.5	It is by far the most audacious act of resistance by Democrats
0:24.0	against President Trump's second term agenda. And the question now is whether the Democrats
0:29.9	gamble will pay off or whether it is going to backfire. Today, the story of how the Democrats got to this point
0:39.8	and what their decision-making looked like inside the Capitol
0:44.7	in the hours leading up to this shutdown.
0:48.7	It's Wednesday, October 1st.
1:00.9	Okay, testing one, two, three, testing one, two, three.
1:02.3	Michael Barbaro, good morning.
1:04.3	Testing three, four, five.
1:05.9	Good morning, Mary.
1:07.2	Tell me where we are right now.
1:13.9	We're on the, according to Rachel Custer, Daily,, Washington Resident, the east side of the United States Capitol looking at the dome.
1:17.4	It's a humid morning here, Tuesday, 1020 a.m., government shutdown day.
1:23.4	If things proceed in the direction, we believe they will for the rest of the day.
1:33.6	And we're about to head into the Capitol to go meet with our colleague Katie Edmondson.
1:35.0	She's at times congressional correspondent.
1:39.8	She's going to talk us through really the road to this moment to shut down.
1:42.4	So she's waiting for us. And we've got to go ahead through a gauntlet of security.
1:49.0	One of the first? I'll go by you.
	...

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