'These people are sick': Trump admin slams top Dem for justifying shutdown suffering

House Democrats' second in command provided a jaw-dropping justification for the suffering inflicted on American families during the government shutdown, and the White House is having none of it.

As the government shutdown approaches its fourth week, Americans are bracing themselves to miss paychecks and key government benefits like SNAP. House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) admitted that the Democrat-induced government shutdown has been painful for families across the country but justified it because "it is one of the few leverage times [Democrats] have."

'At some point, the Democrats are going to have to take yes for an answer.'

"I mean, shutdowns are terrible," Clark said in a recent interview. "Of course, there are going to be families that are going to suffer. We take that responsibility very seriously."

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Democrats are holding federal paychecks hostage and using government benefits as leverage to accomplish a policy agenda Americans rejected at the ballot box last November. Rather than voting for the Republicans' clean, nonpartisan funding bill, which notably keeps spending levels at the same rate Democrats voted for over a dozen times in the past, Democrats are set on ramming through their own policies.

The White House quickly condemned Clark's comments, calling Democrats "sick" for using the American people as leverage.

"Not only are Democrats refusing to reopen the government and knowingly inflicting pain on the American people, but now they’re bragging about using struggling American families as leverage for their radical left agenda," White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson told Blaze News. "These people are sick.”

The Democrats' counter funding bill would cost taxpayers $1.5 trillion to effectively reverse every legislative accomplishment Republicans secured through President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Democrats are also demanding that Congress address Obamacare subsidies immediately despite the fact that they expire at the end of the year.

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Although Democrats have remained stubborn, their efforts are ultimately futile. Republicans hold a supermajority, meaning Democrats will never have the support to pass legislation on their own during this Congress. Even though Democrats are trying to force the GOP's hand, top Republicans have maintained that they are not responsible for the shutdown and that it's up to their colleagues across the aisle to do the right thing and reopen the government.

"If the Democrats want to talk about subjects unrelated to ... getting the government open again, we’re happy to have those conversations," Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Tuesday. "But we’ve repeatedly now gone through this, and at some point, the Democrats are going to have to take yes for an answer."

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