Shutdown Showdown: Teamsters Back Republicans, Trump Backs Nuclear Option

The Teamsters laid blame on the Democrats this weekend for the government shutdown–in what will likely be the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, in order for the Democrats to “take out Trump.” The latest government shutdown is a political football where Democrats have lost organized labor, again.

Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, along with four organized federal labor unions, have called for the Senate Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer (D-NY), to sign the clean continuing resolution presented by the Republican majority.

ABC reports on the growing line of federal unions breaking with Democrats. who, according to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, are “siding with illegal aliens and radicals” to hurt Americans.

The union [AFGE] drew headlines on Monday when its president, Everett Kelley, called for a “clean continuing resolution,” a position in line with Republicans who have declined to negotiate with Democrats over healthcare and other topics until after lawmakers vote to reopen the government.

“Both political parties have made their point, and still there is no clear end in sight,” Kelley said in a statement. “Today I’m making mine: it’s time to pass a clean continuing resolution and end this shutdown today.”

To be sure, at least one major union has sided with AFGE. Teamsters President Sean O’Brien has urged lawmakers to pass a clean continuing resolution, reiterating his position on Thursday in remarks made alongside top Trump administration officials at the White House.

“Do not put working people in the middle of a problem. They should not be in there,” said O’Brien, who last year became the first Teamsters union president to speak at a Republican National Convention.

Speaking at the White House on Thursday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed Democrats for the impasse, saying while most workers might be able to miss one paycheck, “none of them can get through two paychecks.”

“If Democrats don’t get their act together very quickly, you’re going to see huge problems,” Duffy said.

In a 22 minute press conference held by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Secretary Rollins, Rollins reveals Democrats want over one trillion dollars in spending to subsidize illegal aliens and foreign countries. In reponse to using emergency funds to subsidize SNAP, Speaker Johnson replied:

“We are not magicians, the funds have run out…[The Democrats] do not care, they have shown how callous they are,” Johnson added. “The reason we are in this mess is because they voted agains the clean CR.”

Rollins noted,

We’ve exhausted every legal avenue at USDA. The $5 billion contingency fund? Can’t touch it during a lapse—it’s for disasters, not this mess.

Even if we could, it covers maybe half the month.

Democrats claim it’s a slush fund. That’s a lie.

This reveals their hypocrisy: They scream about caring for the poor but let benefits die to force their will…

SNAP is only just the beginning…

Rollins then presented a chart that SNAP funding increased “astronomically” and “unprecedented” by 30 percent under President Joe Biden. “We implore the Democrats in the senate to vote Yes,” Rollins said.

WATCH:

SNAP benefits expired on November 1, however two federal judges found that the Trump administration must use contingency funds, which Republicans dispute and reiterate those funds would only cover half of November.

Jonson states: “The Democrats are lying about that…I think they know that. They wanted a talking point. It’s a frivioulous piece of legislation… what they filed in the court was false. The whole thing is shameful. They are using the people as pawns in this game…[The Democrats] want to give a showing to the radical left of their base.” Johnson then floated the idea of nuking the filibuster to reopen the government, with President Trump’s support on social media on Sunday night:

The 30 percent increase in SNAP benefits and expanded Obamacare subsidies under President Biden has been met with Republican accusations of fraud and abuse and reactions of blue-state lawsuits. In 2023, Biden’s U.S. General Administrative Office (GAO) admitted that over $100 billion in Medicaid payments were “improper payments…these are payments that are either made in an incorrect amount or should not have been made at all,” the GAO reported.

The level of fraud is staggering https://t.co/14Gy4QOYti

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 2, 2025

Federal lawsuits filed by a coalition of 21 states and Washington D.C., led by California and New York, claim the USDA violated federal privacy laws in their demand for the personal information of SNAP recipients.

The states are asking a judge to block USDA from making its data demand or withholding funds from states that do not turn over the data.

“SNAP recipients provided this information to get help feeding their families not to be entered into a government surveillance database or be used as targets in the president’s inhumane immigration agenda,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said at a Monday press conference announcing the lawsuit.

The legal fight over SNAP data comes as the Trump administration is collecting and linking government data in new ways for purposes that include immigration enforcement. The administration is taking steps to share IRS and Medicaid data with immigration enforcement officials to help them locate people who may be subject to deportation.

The lawsuit calls USDA’s demand for SNAP data as “another step in this Orwellian surveillance campaign,” NPR reports.

Democratic Attorneys General have also filed lawsuits to prevent providing Medicaid enrollee data to the Trump administration.

The government shutdown is, as of publishing, the second longest in U.S. history.

The most significant government shutdowns include the 35-day shutdown in 2018-2019 during the first Trump administration, as Democrats fought against funding an extension of the U.S.-Mexico border wall. In 1995-1996 during the Clinton administration, a 21-day shutdown was caused by Democratic opposition to spending cuts, and a 16-day shutdown in 2013 during the Obama administration occurred due to a dispute over the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.