If Democrats Have a Better Plan, I’d Like to Hear It

The Ezra Klein Show

New York Times Opinion

Society & Culture, Government, News

4.6 • 11K Ratings

🗓️ 7 September 2025

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In a few weeks the government’s funding will run out. If Democrats vote for a new spending bill, they will be funding Trump’s autocratic takeover. What should they do? Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at [email protected]. You can find the transcript and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.html This column read was produced by our executive producer, Claire Gordon. Fact-checking by Jack McCordick. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with mixing by Aman Sahota. The show’s production team also includes Marie Cascione, Annie Galvin, Michelle Harris, Rollin Hu, Kristin Lin, Marina King and Jan Kobal. Original music by Aman Sahota and Pat McCusker. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The
0:07.0	The In about three weeks, the government's funding will run out.
0:35.2	Democrats will face a choice, Join Republicans to fund a government that
0:39.8	Trump is turning into a tool of authoritarian takeover and vengeance or shut the government down.
0:51.5	Democrats faced a version of this choice six months ago.
0:54.7	This was back in March.
0:56.9	Doge was chainsawing its way through the government.
0:59.9	Civil servants were being fired en masse.
1:02.6	Government grants and payments were being choked off
1:05.1	and reworked into tools of political power and punishment.
1:08.8	Trump was signing executive orders demanding the investigation,
1:12.4	I would say the persecution of his enemies. He had announced shocking tariffs on Mexico and Canada.
1:19.3	We were in the full muzzle velocity stage of the presidency, and Democrats at that moment
1:24.3	seemed completely overwhelmed and outmatched. I kept hearing people
1:29.8	say they lacked a message, but that's not what they lacked. What they lacked was power.
1:35.0	They didn't have power. They didn't have the House or the Senate. But they did have one sliver of
1:40.7	leverage. In order to fund the government, Senate Republicans needed Democratic votes,
1:46.5	not just one or two votes. They needed at least seven Democrats to reach that magic 60-vote
1:51.8	threshold in the Senate. House Democrats wanted their Senate colleagues to hold those votes back.
1:58.5	They wanted a shutdown. But Chuck Schumer, the leader of the Senate Democrats, didn't.
2:04.1	He voted for the funding bill,
2:06.0	and he encouraged a crucial number of his colleagues to do the same.
	...

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