Things are tense in Washington today as Congress moves to avert a government shutdown. And while there are arguments on both sides for how a shutdown would not help anyone — and could give Elon Musk more of an opportunity to gut federal agencies — many Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi, say that this was a "false choice" and they should have gone to the mat.

"Schumer Brings a White Flag to a Gun Fight" is the headline New York Magazine went with, as outrage boils over about the Senate Minority Leader's decision, announced Thursday, to support a Republican spending bill in order to avoid a government shutdown that could get blamed on Democrats this time.

"Young Democrats’ Anger Boils Over as Schumer Retreats on Shutdown" is the NY Times' current headline, on a story that notes how the younger generation of Democrats in Congress, including Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who went on CNN last night to call Schumer's decision a "tremendous mistake."

84-year-old Nancy Pelosi has joined the chorus Friday, putting out a harsh statement and, remarkably breaking with longtime ally Schumer, as the Chronicle notes.

"Donald Trump and Elon Musk have offered the Congress a false choice between a government shutdown or a blank check that makes a devastating assault on the well-being of working families across America. Let’s be clear: neither is a good option for the American people," Pelosi said in her statement. "Democrats must not buy into this false choice."

Pelosi is referring to the destructive details of the spending bill, which boosts defense spending by $6 billion, decreases non-defense funding by $13 billion, hands $10 billion in funding to ICE, and slashes $890 million in grants for healthcare facilities across the country.

Additionally, the bill cuts $293 million for emergency preparedness projects.

The spending bill requires 60 votes to pass in the Senate, and Senate Democrats reportedly were given no say in the resolution — when, typically, both parties would have to come to the table and compromise to get a bill like this passed.

Schumer laid out his case for voting for the spending bill in a NYT op-ed today.

"For sure, the Republican bill is a terrible option," Schumer writes. "It is deeply partisan. It doesn’t address this country’s needs. But even if the White House says differently, Mr. Trump and Elon Musk want a shutdown. We should not give them one. The risk of allowing the president to take even more power via a government shutdown is a much worse path."

"As bad as passing the continuing resolution would be, I believe a government shutdown is far worse," Schumer adds. He writes that a shutdown would give "Musk permission to destroy vital government services at a significantly faster rate than they can right now," and explaining that, "Under a shutdown, the Trump administration would have wide-ranging authority to deem whole agencies, programs and personnel nonessential, furloughing staff members with no promise they would ever be rehired."

He further argues that Trump presently "owns the chaos in the government," and Democrats shouldn't play into his hand by taking up the chaos and having to fight over which government agencies to reopen and when.

If you have thoughts you want to share directly with Schumer, there are still tickets available for a public appearance he's planning to make in San Francisco next week, on March 22. He'll be in conversation with KQED's Scott Shafer at the Sydney Goldstein Theater, talking about his new book Antisemitism in America: A Warning.

Top image: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) leaves the Democratic caucus lunch at the U.S. Capitol on March 13, 2025 in Washington, DC. On Wednesday Senate Democrats, not in line with the continuing resolution passed by House Republicans providing a six-month funding extension to avert a government shutdown, proposed an alternate plan that would fund the government in the short term through April 11. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)