The American public generally blames the party in power during a federal government shutdown, and new polling finds that would be especially true should the Republicans fail to pass legislation to keep the lights on past midnight on Tuesday.

Nearly half the country (45%) will blame the GOP if no agreement can be reached in little more than 24 hours, a new Morning Consult poll released Monday finds, according to Politico. Republicans say they want a “clean” continuing resolution, but Democrats are demanding any bill to keep the government open must restore funds to protect health care that were stripped out by the GOP.

Less than one-third of all Americans (32%) would blame Democrats for a shutdown.

Worse for Republicans, that 13-point margin (45-32) grows to 17 points against the GOP when polling only independent voters.

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And as Politico reported, “GOP voters are more likely to blame their own party than Democrats are,” for a shutdown. “Of the people surveyed, 33 percent of GOP voters would blame Republicans, and 22 percent of Democratic voters say they would blame Democrats.”

On Friday, Politico reported that the White House believes “that Democrats will be blamed for a shutdown and its ripple effects, which could include mass layoffs across the federal government.”

President Donald Trump on Thursday had blamed Democrats for what he called “unserious and ridiculous demands.”

“He read all the s– they’re asking for, and he said, ‘on second thought, go f– yourself,’” a White House official told Politico. But among what Democrats are asking is for “the GOP to extend certain Affordable Care Act subsidies, which were expanded by Congress in 2021 and are due to sunset at the end of the year.”

Meanwhile, Leader Schumer just announced, ahead of his meeting with the President, that he will propose a seven- to 10-day spending bill to keep the government operating so they can continue negotiations, according to Axios.

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Democrats are blasting President Trump.

“Back in 2013, Trump said it was the President’s job to negotiate and avoid a shutdown,” wrote U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR). “I don’t say this often, but he was right. Now, Trump is running away from the health care crisis HE created and stonewalling bipartisan negotiations. Failure of leadership on every level.”

“What will you stop being able to afford if your premiums go up 75%?” asked U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA). “Groceries, rent, saving for your kids’ education? This is the calculation families across the country are making right now – but it’s completely avoidable if Republicans drop their cruel cuts to health care.”

“This is a Republican-run government,” noted U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA). “They have the White House, the House, and the Senate. They’ve had plenty of months to put forward legislation where they could work with us to get this passed. They waited until the very last minute. Donald Trump set a meeting, canceled a meeting, reset a meeting. This is entirely on them.”

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U.S. Rep. Mark Alford (R-MO) called for President Donald Trump and his senior administration officials to treat House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer in the same manner they treated Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this year when they appeared to gang up on and berate the Ukrainian president.

President Trump has not met with the Democratic leaders since he took office in January, and canceled a meeting with them slated for last week. They will be meeting in the Oval Office on Monday afternoon to discuss ways to avert a federal government shutdown at midnight on Tuesday.

Congressman Alford, a member of the far-right Republican Study Committee, told NewsNation on Monday, “let’s give them a little taste of what we gave Zelenskyy back in the spring.”

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President Trump has falsely claimed that Democrats are “threatening” to shut down the government “unless they can have over $1 Trillion Dollars in new spending to continue free healthcare for Illegal Aliens.”

He, also wrongly, has claimed Democrats want to “force Taxpayers to fund Transgender surgery for minors, have dead people on the Medicaid roles, allow Illegal Alien Criminals to steal Billions of Dollars in American Taxpayer Benefits, try to force our Country to again open our Borders to Criminals and to the World, allow men to play in women’s sports, and essentially create Transgender operations for everybody.”

Congressman Alford echoed some of those allegations in his Monday remarks.

“So, this is what they wanted, all this crazy spending, going back to the woke policies and giving illegal aliens health care. Trump said, ‘There’s no way, why should I meet with them?'” Alford said.

“I think, over the last couple of days, he’s rethought that. Let’s bring them into the Oval Office. Let’s give them a little taste of what we gave Zelenskyy back in the spring,” the Missouri Republican declared.

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“This is going to be live viewing, I believe, in the Oval Office,” Alford said, “like you’ve never seen before, maybe an hour long meeting, and the American people can see for themselves the ridiculous request and demands as the Democrats hold them hostage.”

Leader Jeffries on Monday told reporters, “We’re headed into the meeting [with Trump] to have a good faith negotiation about landing the plane in a way that avoids a government shutdown but does not continue the Republican assault on the healthcare of the American people.”

Democrats are “using one of their few points of leverage to demand Congress take up legislation to extend health care benefits,” PBS News reported. “Trump has shown little interest in entertaining Democrats’ demands on health care, even as he agreed to hold a sit-down meeting Monday with Schumer, along with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. The Republican president has said repeatedly he fully expects the government to enter a shutdown this week.”

Rep. Mark Alford on Trump’s meeting today with Democratic leaders: “Let’s bring them into the Oval Office, let’s give them a little taste of what we gave Zelenskyy back in the spring.” pic.twitter.com/mfYT5TXLjH

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 29, 2025

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Speculation has been swirling after U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth abruptly ordered roughly 800 top officers from around the globe to return to the U.S. next week for a meeting — with no explanation or agenda provided.

“Hegseth’s orders,” The Washington Post reported on Friday in an exclusive, “require anyone in a command position with the rank of one-star general or rear admiral and above, as well as their senior enlisted leaders, to be at Marine Corps University in Quantico, Virginia, on Tuesday.”

Experts have expressed that the national security concerns alone are disturbing — every top officer in all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces — and their support staff — away from their posts and together in one room.

Others expressed concerns that the nation’s top military brass might be asked to take a loyalty pledge — not to the Constitution but to the President or to his ideology. Some suggested it might be to refocus the officers on domestic U.S. issues rather than external threats or enemies.

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Instead, the meeting, according to the Washington Post’s report, will be for all 800 or so generals and admirals to listen to Secretary Hegseth speak about his own beliefs regarding what the U.S. military should be — his “warrior ethos” ideology.

The speech is expected to last less than one hour.

As The Washington Post reported on Thursday, the Defense Department “possesses highly secure videoconferencing technology that enables military officials, regardless of their location, to discuss sensitive matters with the White House, the Pentagon or both.”

The Defense Secretary’s “directive comes in the wake of Hegseth’s firing of numerous senior military officers without cause this year, upending military norms and creating a culture of fear in the Pentagon, the people familiar with the matter said,” the Post also reported on Friday. “The recent firings of top military officers and the unusual nature of the order has stirred widespread concern among military officials that Hegseth may also have [an] additional surprise in store.”

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Hegseth appeared to respond to — or at least acknowledge — concerns the meeting might include a loyalty pledge on Friday, when retired United States Army officer Ben Hodges, who served as commanding general, United States Army Europe, posted to social media remarks that echoed concerns of others:

“July 1935 German generals were called to a surprise assembly in Berlin and informed that their previous oath to the Weimar constitution was void and that they would be required to swear a personal oath to the Führer. Most generals took the new oath to keep their positions,” he wrote.

Secretary Hegseth mocked General Hodges’ remarks:

“Cool story, General,” he wrote.

Hegseth was quickly chastised.

“You are pathetic,” declared Fred Wellman, a graduate of West Point and the Harvard Kennedy School, and a 22-year combat veteran who is now the host of the podcast “On Democracy.”

“Supposed to be leading the largest department of our government with millions of troops and civilians and you are trolling retired generals who served honorably longer and more heroically than you could,” Wellman added. “You’re not even a good squad leader.”

Fred Guttenberg, the well-known anti-gun-violence activist, noted that Hegseth’s remarks were “not a denial.”

Other critics responded to the Post’s reporting.

“Yes, totally worth the cost and time and effort to pull hundreds of people away from their commands to listen to Hegseth and his deep thoughts about being a warrior,” snarked The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols, a retired U.S. Naval War College professor.

“So it’s a juvenile Rah Rah high school football speech, that cost[s] a ton of money, takes leaders out of positions in where they [are] managing crises, and puts a massive target on Quantico,” remarked Marc Polymeropoulos, a retired senior U.S. Intelligence Service officer. “Plus they all gonna get stuck when govt shuts down. Genius all around.”

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