Government shutdown showdown with GOP puts Democrats in a bind

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Democrats face a critical choice on how much to work with Republicans on government funding when Congress returns next week — with a government shutdown and anger from their voters hanging in the balance.

Senate Democrats took a beating from their base during the last funding showdown in March, when they helped pave the way for Republicans to pass a GOP-crafted plan to keep the government open through early fall, averting a shutdown in the eleventh hour.

As Congress prepares to return to a monthlong sprint until the funding deadline, pressure will be on Schumer to hold his ground and tensions could significantly heighten.

Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Thursday called on their GOP counterparts to “immediate