The federal government shutdown that began at the stroke of midnight on October 1 wasn’t an accident, a matter of miscommunication, or the result of congressional leaders getting behind on their paperwork. Both major parties went into it with eyes open, having for their own reasons spurned the negotiations that usually head off these destructive events at the last minute. It would be naive, then, to expect the shutdown to end quickly or simply.

Democrats have a fairly elaborate list of demands they want met before voting en masse to reopen the government. Republicans simply want it to reopen so that they and the Trump administration can continue to deploy their virtually unlimited power over federal policy, personnel, and spending. Democrats know their ability to interrupt appropriati

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