BREAKING: Sen. Josh Hawley Declares Democrat Civil War Exploding Over Shutdown Fallout – “They Wish Our Veterans Went Without Care Longer!”

By Marcus Hale, National Affairs Editor November 12, 2025

WASHINGTON – Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley lit a match under the Democratic Party’s smoldering shutdown ashes Tuesday, accusing its warring factions of regretting they “didn’t inflict enough pain” on everyday Americans during the 41-day impasse. In a blistering floor speech and subsequent press gaggle, Hawley portrayed the party’s internal recriminations as a moral abyss, claiming progressives are furious the crisis ended too soon – leaving veterans without care and air travelers stranded for “not long enough.”

“They wish our veterans went without care longer! They wish air travel was worse for even longer! This party has totally lost its moral bearing,” Hawley thundered, his voice echoing off the Senate chamber’s marble walls. The remarks, delivered as the chamber reconvened post-shutdown, amplified the GOP’s narrative of Democratic dysfunction, with Hawley positioning Republicans as the “party of the working class – the conscience of this country.”

Hawley’s intervention comes amid a torrent of leaks and finger-pointing in Democratic ranks, where the shutdown’s abrupt end – via a bipartisan stopgap advanced by eight Senate Democrats – has ignited a civil war over strategy and sacrifice. Progressives, led by figures like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), lambasted the defections as a “betrayal” that squandered leverage against President Trump’s healthcare cuts. One anonymous Sanders aide told The Daily Pulse that caucus calls have devolved into “screamfests,” with hardliners accusing moderates like Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) of buckling under constituent pressure from tourism slumps and furlough fury.

The shutdown, triggered October 1 over Democratic demands to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies, ground federal operations to a halt, furloughing 800,000 workers and slashing benefits for 42 million SNAP recipients. Air travel devolved into chaos, with the FAA warning of up to 2,000 daily cancellations as Veterans Day loomed, stranding holiday travelers and delaying military family reunions. Veterans Affairs clinics shuttered non-essential services, forcing some to forgo treatments amid a backlog of 1.2 million claims. Hawley, a vocal critic of the impasse from its outset, seized on these vignettes to paint Democrats as callous ideologues more invested in “inflicting pain” than governing.

“Now they’re out there saying, ‘gee, we really wish they would have suffered more,’” Hawley mocked, referencing leaked texts from a progressive strategist group chat obtained by Fox News, where one operative lamented the deal “let Trump off the hook too easy – we needed more headlines on VA wait times.” His speech, clocking in at 12 minutes, drew rare bipartisan applause when he pivoted to Republican unity: “We ended this mess without concessions, proving we’re the party that puts people first – workers, families, veterans. Democrats? They’re lost in their own echo chamber.”

The timing is surgical. With the stopgap funding agencies through January 30, 2026, and teasing a December ACA vote, Hawley – fresh off a reelection bid where he touted his “fighter for Missouri” brand – is auditioning for a bigger stage. Allies whisper of a 2028 presidential nod, with his shutdown rhetoric echoing Trump’s “winning bigly” playbook. On X, #HawleyExposesDems trended with 4.7 million impressions, fueled by clips of his delivery spliced with footage of grounded flights and empty VA lobbies.

Democrats fired back, framing Hawley as a hypocrite with a spotty veterans record. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) dismissed the attack as “GOP theater,” noting Hawley’s 2021 vote against VA nominee Denis McDonough and his delay of a funding extension that risked furloughs for agency staff. “Josh Hawley lectures on moral bearing while he’s the one who grandstands on private jets and blocks burn pit aid,” Schumer quipped, alluding to Hawley’s 2022 filibuster of the PACT Act and campaign travel logs showing 14 Gulfstream flights in 2024 alone.

The jab landed. Veterans’ advocates, including the American Legion, issued a measured rebuke: “We appreciate Sen. Hawley’s rhetoric, but actions matter – like cosponsoring the full PACT expansion he once stalled.” Missouri Democrat Lucas Kunce, Hawley’s 2024 foe and a Marine veteran, piled on via X: “Posh Josh wishes he flew commercial during shutdown chaos. But nah, Gulfstreams for the senator.” The post garnered 250,000 likes, resurrecting Kunce’s “Posh Josh” moniker from the campaign trail.

Yet Hawley’s core message resonates in red strongholds. Polling from Morning Consult shows Republican approval spiking to 58% post-shutdown, with 62% of independents crediting GOP “resolve” for the resolution. In Missouri, where Hawley’s team hosted Honor Flights for 200 veterans last month – complete with Capitol tours and steak dinners – local focus groups praise his “everyman” pivot. “He gets it – Democrats forgot about the heartland while tweeting from D.C. salons,” said one St. Louis factory worker in a post-speech vox pop.

The civil war Hawley decries shows no signs of abating. House Progressives drafted a “no-confidence” resolution against Schumer Tuesday, demanding he step aside for Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who’s floated ditching the filibuster to ram through ACA fixes. Donors, still smarting from a 22% fundraising dip, have withheld $8 million in earmarks for 2026 races, per FEC filings. “We backed the shutdown for leverage, not lectures,” one bundler emailed Schumer’s PAC.

Hawley, undeterred, teased further GOP bills: Targeted funding for VA expansions and FAA modernization, sans Democratic “poison pills.” “Time for us to lead – because the working class can’t wait for the socialists to stop fighting each other,” he told reporters, flashing a grin that’s become his Senate signature.

As Thanksgiving approaches – with airports humming again and clinics restocked – Hawley’s salvo underscores a partisan realignment. Republicans, buoyed by Trump’s mandate, claim the mantle of pragmatic populism. Democrats, fractured between coastal ideologues and swing-state survivors, grapple with a playbook in tatters.

The senator from Missouri, once mocked as “fist-pump guy” on January 6, has recast himself as the working-class tribune. Whether it sticks through 2026 midterms – or beyond – depends on if his barbs draw blood or just more Democratic donor dollars. For now, the civil war rages, and Hawley’s holding the matches.