Democrats press leaders not to cave in a shutdown fight

The White House is threatening to carry out mass firings of federal workers if the government shuts down.

WASHINGTON — With a government funding deadline looming, the biggest sin in the eyes of the party’s base, according to Democratic officials and activists, would not be losing to President Donald Trump in a shutdown battle. It would be refusing to fight.

“They’re desperate to see from Democrats some sign that they understand how serious, how damaging, how dangerous things are and have gotten, and they’re prepared to use the tools and the leverage they’ve got to fight back,” said Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of Indivisible, a progressive grassroots group that has thousands of chapters nationwide.

In March, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., declined to use that leverage — the Democratic minority’s ability to block legislation with a filibuster — and allowed a Republican-written government funding measure to become law.

Now, Schumer promises this time will be different.

And with federal agencies set to run out of money at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, the Democratic base is putting more pressure on him to either win concessions from Trump — at a minimum, an extension of expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies that limit the costs of health insurance for millions of Americans — or let a shutdown happen.