Democrats now hold the upper hand in looming government shutdown talks, according to Donald Trump’s biographer Michael Wolff. With just six days remaining before federal funding runs out, Wolff said Democrats finally have leverage over the White House.
“The Democrats have the leverage here,” Wolff told co-host Joanna Coles on his Inside Trump’s Head podcast. “They can decide whether the government will be funded or not funded.” The last government shutdown began in December 2018 and lasted 35 days. A new shutdown would force the closure of non-essential federal functions and could leave many workers without pay.
This time, however, the Trump administration has directed agencies to prepare for permanent layoffs if no funding deal is reached. Currently, no agreement is in sight. House Republicans are backing a seven-week stopgap funding bill, while Senate Democrats are pushing a continuing resolution to keep the government open through the end of October.
Wolff suggested Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s strategy will be shaped by the backlash he faced earlier this year. In March, Schumer supported a Republican bill to prevent a shutdown, a move that angered liberal groups and some Democrats who even floated a primary challenge against him.
“I think it cost him. He took a meaningful hit on that. Democrats think that he caved,” Wolff said. “And because of that—that and other things—he is facing some amount of opposition in New York. Schumer has been a senator for life, so I’m not sure if opposition actually is meaningful, but it might be… So, I think he’s scared, and that will influence what he does now.”
For Wolff, the stakes go beyond budget negotiations. “It’s a perfect opportunity for the Democrats to put a stake in the ground,” he said. “To create an event that people can rally about, finally, the Democrats to say ‘no’ to Donald Trump.”
Eight months into Trump’s second term, Wolff argued that “Every assumption about how this country functions is under attack.” He described the moment as one of dissonance. “It’s that weird sense of going out in the street and everything is good, and you can get your cappuccino and you can get your this, and everything seems—in the moment—normal. At the same time, you realize everything is changing.”
He added that the administration’s clashes with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel and Disney over free speech highlight the urgency. “What has to happen most of all is that the Democrats have to show a level of commitment, a level of crisis. They have to recognize what’s going on. They have to express what’s going on, and they have to recognize what’s going on. I mean, if there is not a way found to oppose Donald Trump, the entire thing is over.”
When reached for comment, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung dismissed Wolff entirely. “Michael Wolff is a lying sack of s–t and has been proven to be a fraud,”