{"id":2499918,"date":"2025-10-17T06:27:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T10:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/optics-be-damned-washington-shrugs-at-shutdown-soirees\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T06:28:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T10:28:02","slug":"optics-be-damned-washington-shrugs-at-shutdown-soirees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/optics-be-damned-washington-shrugs-at-shutdown-soirees\/","title":{"rendered":"Optics be damned: Washington shrugs at shutdown soirees"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Foptics-be-damned-washington-shrugs-at-shutdown-soirees%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2499918&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses the contrast between the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-pledges-pay-raises-for-military-members\/\" title=\"Trump pledges pay raises for military ...\">ongoing federal government shutdown<\/a> and the actions of members of congress, who appear largely unaffected by the crisis. Despite the government being in its third week of shutdown, with about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-dems-fight-to-prevent-trump-from-draining-the-swamp\/\" title=\"... Dems Fight To Prevent Trump From \u2018Draining The Swamp\u2019\">2 million federal employees<\/a> furloughed or working without pay, lawmakers continue to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >hold high-dollar fundraisers<\/a>, luxury retreats, and social events, including a birthday party for Sen. Jim justice&#8217;s dog, Babydog. The piece highlights the disconnect between the hardship faced by government workers and the relatively normal or even celebratory behavior among politicians. Both Democratic and Republican campaign committees have proceeded with fundraising gatherings at upscale locations, drawing criticism for poor optics during the shutdown. Some lawmakers have expressed frustration at the lack of urgency in resolving the impasse, wich centers on Democratic demands related to healthcare. Meanwhile, members of Congress continue to be paid during the shutdown, sparking public backlash as staff and federal employees go without salaries. Social media has become a venue for political posturing as the stalemate persists, with no clear resolution in sight.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Island fundraisers, rooftop soirees, and a Babydog birthday bonanza: Washington shrugs at shutdown optics<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2374015\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>High-dollar dinners, oceanside retreats, and a birthday party for a lawmaker&rsquo;s dog may fool the common observer into thinking the federal government is not in its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3853699\/senate-heads-home-democrats-dash-john-thune-shutdown-strategy-pentagon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">third week of a shutdown<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Little has changed for members of Congress since the entire government&rsquo;s funding lapsed on Oct. 1, forcing some 2 million federal employees to be furloughed or work without pay.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3854305\/shutdown-frustrates-gop-appropriators-freeze-funding-process\/\">Shutdown frustrates GOP appropriations cardinals as standoff freezes funding process<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/premium\/3852480\/tim-scott-balances-senate-policy-gop-political-roles\/\">Tim Scott balances Senate policy and GOP political roles<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/premium\/3848063\/mitch-mcconnell-helped-block-constitutional-amendment-ban-flag-burning\/\">Years before Trump&rsquo;s executive order, McConnell helped block a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The inconvenience, or in some cases hardship, of a shutdown has become wrapped up in the blame each side is assigning to the other, with neither party willing to budge over Democratic demands on healthcare.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Republicans and Democrats are not letting the optics of fundraising or networking during a shutdown stop them from carrying on like usual.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t sense a great deal of urgency anywhere in this building,&rdquo; Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. &ldquo;People here don&rsquo;t seem to be very affected by it. I think that&rsquo;s part of the issue. So, they go on like it&rsquo;s business as normal, but it&rsquo;s not business as normal for folks who can&rsquo;t get access to services they paid for.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In an effort to offer some comedic relief, Sen. Jim Justice (R-WV) hosted a birthday party on Wednesday to celebrate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3490259\/capitol-tea-jim-justice-babydog-siblings-thom-tillis-parade\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Babydog<\/a>, his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/presidential\/3086379\/rnc-buzz-babydog-trump-ear-bandages-convention\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">politically famous<\/a> four-legged sidekick, turning six. Hundreds of congressional staffers <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SandhyaWrites\/status\/1978514762108465366\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lined up<\/a> on what was the 15th day of the shutdown for a chance to snap a picture with the senator and his 60-pound bulldog, whose face donned <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/brennanleach\/status\/1978530230424814078\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">custom cakes and cake pops<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I love her to death, and that&rsquo;s the end of it with me,&rdquo; Justice said. &ldquo;Things are tough enough right now. We needed something to kind of smile a little bit about.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>While some individual lawmakers have canceled or refrained from attending fundraisers, and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) made a plea for his members not to hold political events, the campaign arms of both parties have forged ahead during the shutdown. In recent weeks, both the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have schmoozed with donors at luxurious retreats, even as they attracted <a href=\"https:\/\/newrepublic.com\/post\/201065\/republicans-spend-shutdown-playing-games-five-star-resort\">negative<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/democrats-plan-luxury-napa-retreat-government-shutdown-threat-looms-congress\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">headlines<\/a> for doing so.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats&rsquo; latest fundraising retreat this week in Napa Valley, California, included a wine tour and dinner at the 5-star Hotel Yountville. DSCC Chairwoman Kirstin Gillibrand (D-NY) declined <span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">to answer questions from the&nbsp;<em>Washington Examiner <\/em>on Thursday<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t talk about fundraising in the building. I have an opinion,&rdquo; said Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), who&rsquo;s set to become the second-ranked Democrat in the next Congress. &ldquo;I think we should be in session, day and night, until we get out of this situation.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In response to a request seeking information about what appeared to be <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MatthewFoldi\/status\/1978567019344580742\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">an event<\/a> held Wednesday on the rooftop of the Democratic National Committee headquarters near Capitol Hill, a spokesperson responded with a copy of a White House invitation to a &ldquo;Legacy Dinner&rdquo; from the same evening to celebrate the construction of President Donald Trump&rsquo;s new ballroom. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Senate Republicans held a fundraising retreat over the weekend in Kiawah Island, South Carolina, and another this month at the oceanside Sea Island Resort in Georgia.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;A lot of people are in midterm elections and so on like that. They&rsquo;re kind of forced to have to raise money and do all that they can possibly do,&rdquo; Justice said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s all kinds of circumstances that would lead one to make one decision or the other. But I surely understand optics, and you got people out there that are hurting.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Compounding matters, lawmakers are constitutionally required to be paid during the shutdown, while their staffers and federal workers are not. Some have moved to donate their salaries, but the idea of troops or Capitol Police officers going without pay has become a flashpoint.<\/p>\n<p>So far, the White House has diverted money to cut checks for the military, while the administration also said it would use tariff revenue for a lapsing program for low-income mothers with young children. <\/p>\n<p>The lack of concern over optics is rooted in the political reality that both sides think their position will ultimately prevail in the court of public opinion. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Both sides think they&rsquo;re winning,&rdquo; said Sen. Angus King (I-ME), who is among the trio of Democratic caucus members to vote for a &ldquo;clean,&rdquo; GOP-backed funding bill that has failed repeatedly in the Senate. &ldquo;People do what they think is appropriate. That&rsquo;s up to them.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Senate departed for the weekend on Thursday following a 10th failed vote on the clean GOP measure, and the House has been on recess for the past four weeks in a bid to pressure Democrats to accept that bill.<\/p>\n<p>In the face of the impasse, lawmakers, particularly Democrats, have attempted to get creative with their shutdown posturing on social media.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3853699\/senate-heads-home-democrats-dash-john-thune-shutdown-strategy-pentagon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SENATE HEADS HOME AFTER DEMOCRATS DASH THUNE&rsquo;S LATEST SHUTDOWN STRATEGY<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I&#8217;m at work.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans where are you? <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/s2RFJKQ1wX\">pic.twitter.com\/s2RFJKQ1wX<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Rosa DeLauro (@rosadelauro) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rosadelauro\/status\/1978572645193957833?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@sarahemcbride\/video\/7555947503800044831?_r=1&amp;_t=ZP-90bhCttybkt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tongue-in-cheek video<\/a> from Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE) features her searching the Capitol for House Republicans. A profanity-laced <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/t\/ZP8A4t6bs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">video<\/a> from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) explains why the party has dug in on scoring healthcare concessions that Republicans say they&rsquo;ll oppose until Democrats help reopen the government. Rep.&nbsp;Rich McCormick (R-GA)&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@reprichmccormick\/video\/7561161990454955319?_r=1&amp;_t=ZP-90bh9XiMfz5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">used the roof<\/a>&nbsp;of what appeared to be one of the House office buildings to ding &ldquo;Schumer&rsquo;s Shenanigans.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><em>Lauren Green and Rachel Schilke contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Island fundraisers, parties, and birthdays continue amid shutdown<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3108,"featured_media":2499919,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AP25073810741644.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[49305,5123,4086],"class_list":["post-2499918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-optics","tag-shutdown","tag-washington"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AP25073810741644.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2499918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2499918"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2499918\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2499922,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2499918\/revisions\/2499922"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2499919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2499918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2499918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2499918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}