Rep. Katherine Clark’s interview last week with Fox News’ Chad Pergram offered a telling glimpse into how Democrats are framing — and weaponizing — the ongoing government shutdown. Now at 22 days and counting, the standoff has left thousands of federal workers without pay and key services suspended.
But Clark, the Democratic Whip from Massachusetts, described it as a kind of noble pause — a strategic moment to pressure Republicans into preserving policies like Obamacare subsidies and Medicaid expansion.
@WhipKClark, the number two House Democrat, on the Democrat Shutdown: “Of course there will be families that are going to suffer… but it is one of the few leverage times we have.”
These people are SICK! pic.twitter.com/7MRHsmGMGx
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 22, 2025
But what stood out most in the conversation wasn’t the expected finger-pointing or the appeals to rising healthcare costs. It was the moment she said the quiet part out loud. Clark admitted, without hesitation, that the shutdown is “one of the few leverage items we have.”
She acknowledged that families are suffering — and then immediately pivoted to how that suffering is politically useful. It was a brief moment, a sentence or two, but it struck a much deeper chord. The choice to lean on the pain of unpaid workers, struggling families, and suspended public services as a tactic reveals far more than intended.
The facts about the shutdown. pic.twitter.com/Yhd8uMyHuf
— Sadie (@Sadie_NC) October 21, 2025
The problem isn’t that Democrats want to negotiate — that’s the job of lawmakers. The problem is what they’re willing to sacrifice in order to get their way. Clark claims to take the “responsibility very seriously,” but the shutdown’s real-world impact seems almost secondary to its value as a bargaining chip.
And here’s the deeper irony: while Democrats insist they’re protecting the vulnerable, they’re also keeping them in limbo. Federal employees and contractors don’t have lobbyists. They don’t have leverage. They just need a paycheck — and fast.
Clark also used her interview to criticize Speaker Mike Johnson for delaying the swearing-in of Rep.-elect Adelita Grajalva. Her argument? It’s “outrageous” to wait over three weeks. But that outrage rings hollow when measured against a 22-day government shutdown that her own party is helping prolong. Grajalva’s delay is symbolic. The shutdown is substantive.
