Republicans say Trump is just ‘trolling’ Democrats with social media posts celebrating cuts – Deseret News

WASHINGTON — Republican leaders are brushing off Democratic concerns that President Donald Trump isn’t taking the government shutdown seriously, describing his recent social media posts as playful “trolling.”

Trump angered Democrats on Friday when he shared two posts depicting OMB Director Russ Vought, who oversees how the federal government spends its money, as the Grim Reaper who will slash Democratic funding. The posts contrast with Republicans’ messaging that the president “doesn’t take pleasure in” recent spending cuts and that he is being forced to do so by Democrats’ shutdown posturing.

“Is he trolling the Democrats? Yes,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said on Friday. “Because that’s what President Trump does, and people are having fun with this.”

But Democrats say it proves that Trump isn’t genuine about engaging in talks to end a federal shutdown.

“It really troubles me, as someone who is watching our country really hurting today, that the President and the Republicans right now are treating it as a joke,” Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democratic appropriator in the Senate, told the Deseret News. “This is not a joke. This is real. They need to stop the taunting, they need to stop the childish behavior. They need to stop hurting people, and they need to come and work with us to solve a serious problem in front of our country.”

House Republicans turn up the heat on Senate Democrats

The House won’t return to Washington, D.C., until mid-October, increasing pressure on Senate Democrats to pass Republicans’ spending deal in order to reopen the government.

Johnson designated Oct. 7-13 as a district work period, meaning lawmakers will remain in their home districts until after Columbus Day. Johnson hinted he may keep the House out of session until the Senate approves the GOP-led spending resolution, pushing Democrats into a corner to swallow the Republican bill or own the blame of a prolonged shutdown.

“The House will come back into session and do its work as soon as Chuck Schumer allows us to re-open the government,” Johnson said on Friday.

The Senate will return on Monday where it will vote again on two spending proposals that have both failed to garner the 60 votes needed to end a filibuster in the upper chamber. The Senate adjourned on Friday afternoon, with the shutdown expected to drag on through the weekend.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., was quick to criticize Johnson for canceling votes, with him and other Democratic leaders arguing it served as evidence that Republicans “aren’t serious” about ending the shutdown in a bipartisan way.

“The bottom line is, today, you saw the Republicans run the same play and they got the same result,” Schumer said on Friday. “The question is, will they change course?”

Senators rejected two separate spending proposals to fund the government before it adjourned for the weekend, leaving federal agencies shuttered and thousands of workers without pay as lawmakers remain in a bitter stalemate over what to include in a temporary funding bill.

The Senate won’t return until Monday, meaning the shutdown will last at least six days while Republicans and Democrats both refuse to blink first.

“When you all ask me, ‘Why aren’t you negotiating?’ Again, I don’t have anything to negotiate,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said on Friday.

The Republicans’ bill would extend current spending levels until Nov. 21, giving appropriators an additional seven weeks to finalize full-year funding bills for fiscal year 2026. The package would also tack on millions of dollars in supplemental spending for lawmaker security.

However, Democrats have refused to support a spending deal unless it contains major concessions on health care policy, including a permanent extension of Obamacare tax subsidies that are scheduled to expire at the end of this year.

Republicans have argued those talks must be separate from a temporary spending bill, thrusting both parties into a catch-22 situation: Republicans won’t negotiate until an extension is passed and Democrats won’t vote for an extension until they secure a deal.

The failed votes put the Senate into a period of inaction as chamber rules require at least 60 votes to overcome a filibuster — meaning at least seven Democrats would need to join all Republicans in advancing the measure.

So far, only three have crossed party lines to do so, and Republicans will likely need an additional Democrat to offset Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has consistently voted against the spending resolution.

The GOP spending bill failed on Friday in a final vote of 54-44.

Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of senators is quietly discussing possible backup plans to reopen the government that would satisfy both parties’ demands. Those talks haven’t materialized into a formal agreement, but conversations could continue through the weekend.

Schumer said those talks haven’t produced any results as Republicans “didn’t offer anything really new, just the same old stuff.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., however, appeared to throw cold water on any changes to the spending resolution, telling reporters on Thursday he doesn’t think it could muster enough GOP support in the House.

“There are some discussions going on, and I get read into them on a regular basis, so I kind of know what’s being talked about,” Thune said. “What, the House is going to come back and vote on a one month as opposed to seven weeks? I mean, we think about this right now. We’re quibbling over pretty small stuff.”