It's a showdown. Who blinks first?

As the government shutdown enters its second week, tensions are running hot on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers are pointing fingers and digging in along partisan lines. 

Meanwhile, public perception of the shutdown and who bears responsibility for it differ wildly. As usual, the answer depends on whether one frequents progressive-leaning or conservative-leaning news outlets.

“The Shutdown Is a Meme War,” ventured River Page for the Free Press on October 7, 2025. “And the Democrats are losing.”

“The goverment has shut down for the first time in seven years,” began Page. “If you’re aware of this, you’re probably vaguely aware that it’s something to do with healthcare and immigrants. We’ll get to the precise reasons for this in a minute, but suffice it to say that they’re convoluted enough that the vast majority of Americans don’t understand them in the slightest, and don’t care to find out. This presents both parties with an opportunity. Public opinion is up for grabs.”

With “public opinion up for grabs,” Republicans are, as always, ready to pounce on Democrats in disarray.

“So what have Republicans done?” joked River Page for the FP. “They’ve pulled out their best weapons: memes, obviously. Last week, as the shutdown loomed, President Trump took to Truth Social to share an AI-generated video depicting House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries dressed up like the Tapatío Mexican — big curly mustache, giant sombrero, you get the idea. In this fake video, the newly Hispanicized Jeffries stands next to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is explaining that Democrats want to shut down the government to give illegal aliens free healthcare in a ploy to win them over at the polls.”

“So how did Democrats respond?” continued Page. “Several, including Jeffries, decried the video as racist. Obviously, this did nothing. Democrats have been calling Trump racist for a decade to zero effect. The trolling continued, with the White House’s official Instagram account posting a picture of a crudely drawn sombrero. Another strategy was needed.”

“If a meme war was what Republicans wanted to turn the shutdown into, Democrats decided, it’s a meme war they would get,” sighed Page. “It didn’t go well.”

“Consider the bizarre video posted by the official Democrats account on X, on October 1,” ventured Page. “‘Republican and Democrat kitties cannot agree on what should be funded,’ says a generic AI voice over a video of two kittens standing in front of the Capitol building, seeking to explain the Democratic reasons for the shutdown in feline terms. “Democrat kitties want you to have healthcare. Republican kitties do not.”

None of it makes much sense, neither kittens nor sombreros having anything to do with government spending, Biden-era excesses, or government dysfunction.

So, it is understandable that tensions are running hot in Washington. Despite mounting frustration, no one seems about to blink first.

“Senate frustrations rise as shutdown starts feeling like ‘Groundhog Day,’” grumbled Al Weaver for The Hill on October 7. “Adding to the monotony and deepening the stalemate, the repeated votes are taking place even as no high-level negotiations are taking place and talks among rank-and-file lawmakers appear to have petered out.”

There has indeed been very little sign of good news from DC lawmakers.

“As the shutdown reaches the one-week mark, Trump points to ‘negotiations’ that don’t exist,” griped Steve Benen for MSNBC on October 7. “The president isn’t just boasting about imaginary negotiations, he’s also moving further away from the Democratic position on health care.”

How will it all end?

(Contributing writer, Brooke Bell)