Seattle Times carriers the AP story. Of great interest:
In the end, enough of the Democratic senators decided a government shutdown would be even worse than letting the funding bill pass.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said a shutdown would have given the Trump administration the ability to deem whole agencies, programs and personnel non-essential, furloughing staff with no promise they would ever be rehired.
“A shutdown will allow DOGE to shift into overdrive,” Schumer said. “Donald Trump and Elon Musk would be free to destroy vital government services at a much faster rate.”
That is saying a short term "shutdown" which only shuts down most of the government while some steams on would work well enough that Trump could say, "See, most of it is unneeded. We get by okay."
Supermarket shelves would not go bare. Hospitals would not close. So, getting by is one thing. An agency such as the SEC is nonessential in the sense that buses and trains would run, licensing bureaus in the states would be state funded, etc.
However, crypto thieves would love it, fleecing people of life savings. No regulator, no problem, for people in the private sector promoting fraud and abuse.
But billionaires could keep their obscene tax beaks to further the income disparity within the nation. More poor would suffer. Hunger would increase while life expectancy would decline. But those with wealth would feel no pinch, so Republican thinking is "No pain. No problem" And they'd feel gain over pain themselves, never mind cohesion of society. White people survived serfdom, didn't they, so do it to them again, except for the aristocracy who face inadequate estate taxation.
Republicanism is sinking to feudalism, and today's and tomorrow's serfs voted to see it happen. With that, again, "We get the government they deserve."
Tariffs, other ills aside, our form of government is being dismantled and too many see only something they can don a cap and cheer over, as if they will avoid serfdom, since that is for other races. They think. They learn too late. If learning at all.
The American nightmare. Dream no more. Dreaming is for others. Not you.