{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.barrasso.senate.gov/barrasso-the-radicals-hold-the-reins-of-todays-democrat-party/", "Barrasso: The Radicals Hold the Reins of Today\u2019s Democrat Party", "2025-10-16", "2025", "2025-10", "Republican", "Senate", "WY", "John Barrasso", "B001261", "www.barrasso.senate.gov", "barrasso", "https://www.barrasso.senate.gov/newsroom/news-releases/", "scraper", "\u201cWhat Senator Schumer and Democrats in this body are really saying is this:Every day of this Schumer Shutdown strengthens their alliance with far-left activist groups. These radicals hold the reins of today\u2019s Democrat party. They\u2019re driving the stagecoach. Not Senator Schumer. Not Representative Jeffries. And they\u2019re driving it off a cliff.\u201d\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Senate Majority Whip, today spoke on the Senate Floor slamming Senator Schumer (D-N.Y.) for bowing to the far-left\u2019s demands to keep the government closed. Senator Barrasso\u2019s remarks came days before far-left activist groups plan to descend on Washington, D.C., to cheer on the Schumer Shutdown.\n\nClick HERE to watch Senator Barrasso\u2019s remarks.\n\nSen. Barrasso\u2019s remarks as prepared:\n\n\u201cToday is day sixteen of the Schumer Shutdown. Democrats have an opportunity to end the charade today. I expect they won\u2019t. Why? For starters, the Minority Leader believes, \u2018Every day gets better for us.\u2019 He must be talking about Democrat Leadership and Democrat politicians. He can\u2019t be talking about people all across the country. Not the people who work hard to keep us safe every day. Not the federal workers who are not getting paid. Oh no, he can\u2019t be talking about them when he refers to \u2018everyday gets better for us.\u2019\n\n\u201cWhat Senator Schumer and Democrats in this body are really saying is this:\n\nEvery day of this Schumer Shutdown strengthens their alliances with the far-left activist groups. These radicals hold the reins of today\u2019s Democrat party. They\u2019re driving the stagecoach. Not Senator Schumer. Not Representative Jeffries. The people who are driving the stagecoach are the left-wing activists, and they\u2019re driving it off a cliff.\n\n\u201cLet me give you another reason why I suspect the Democrats will once again refuse to reopen the government. It\u2019s because the far-left activist groups are pressuring Democrats to keep the government closed until after their radical, anti-America rally, which is going to be held this weekend. The rally \u2013 which some have labeled the \u2018I Hate America\u2019 rally \u2013 is going to take place Saturday. There will be rallies in Washington, D.C., and across the country.\n\n\u201cWe just heard from the Minority Leader on the Floor, inviting people to attend these rallies, to participate in the \u2013 what I and other have referred to as the \u2018I Hate America Rally.\u2019 He is a cheerleader for these far-left activist groups and their causes. All these rallies are going to be led by the far-left activists, and all will be calling on the Democrats to keep the government closed. And the Democrats in this body are beholden to every single one of these far-left activist groups. Groups like \u2018Hashtag Resist Trump\u201d and \u2018American Atheists.\u2019\n\n\u201cHere\u2019s a headline from Politico: \u2018Chuck Schumer\u2019s critics are satisfied \u2013 for now.\u2019 The article goes on to quote the head of a far-left activist group called Indivisible. This group is organizing Saturday\u2019s radical rally. The leader of this far-left group says of the Minority Leader, \u2018He hasn\u2019t surrendered yet. I call that progress, and we\u2019re cheering him on now.\u2019 Seven months ago, that same person had a very different message for the Minority Leader. That same person said, \u2018Senator Schumer should step aside as leader. Every Democrat in the Senate should call for him to do so.\u2019 So what changed? Well, Senator Schumer started toeing the line of the far-left group. He shut down the government in spite of the fact that 13 times when Joe Biden was president he voted for a clean continuing resolution to keep the government open. What changed? Well, the Minority Leader is now a puppet of the radical, extreme, dangerous, scary wing of his party.\n\n\u201cHe huddled with far-left activist groups for months before the shutdown. They orchestrated the Schumer Shutdown together. They organized a war room. They\u2019re calling the tune. Senator Schumer even gloated to Punchbowl News: \u2018We thought about this long in advance.\u2019 This is a premeditated, political game for Senator Schumer and the Democrats. It is a dangerous game for every other American.\n\n\u201cPeople are not receiving paychecks because Senate Democrats want to prove their allegiance to the far-left. Democrats want a standing ovation this Saturday when they address the radical wing of their party. The wing that\u2019s holding the reins. A wing that is extreme, dangerous, and scary. A wing that is pro-crime and anti-America. That\u2019s what we\u2019re facing. Senate Democrats want to be cheered on for holding hostage the paychecks of TSA agents and air traffic controllers. Meanwhile, Americans are sick and tired of Democrats\u2019 dangerous political games. They just want to get back to work.\n\n\u201cToday, Democrats will have an opportunity to prove that they aren\u2019t beholden to the far-left of their party. We will vote soon on a bipartisan appropriations bill to fund the Department of Defense. The warfighters. The troops. The people who keep our nation and our allies safe. The bill already passed the Appropriations Committee. The vote was 26 to 3. 26 voted for it. Only 3 voted against it. Today, we will see if Democrats will work with us on this bipartisan appropriations bill. They claim they want regular order, they claim they want things to work together. And it\u2019s a bill they have said themselves is necessary. Remember, Senator Schumer did not bring a single appropriations bill to this Floor when he was the Majority Leader. I wonder who he\u2019s going to side with today? Senate Republicans this year have already approved three appropriations bills to fund the government. This would be the fourth.\n\n\u201cDemocrats are holding the government hostage and they\u2019re holding the American people hostage. Republicans are committed to reopening the government. Republicans will keep holding votes on our bipartisan, clean continuing resolution. One that Democrats voted for 13 times in favor of when Joe Biden was in the White House. Democrats have an opportunity and an obligation to end this Schumer Shutdown. We should end it today.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.barrasso.senate.gov/barrasso-the-radicals-hold-the-reins-of-todays-democrat-party/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.808639779686928, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}