I’ve been paying attention throughout and I don’t see any contradiction at all. In March, Schumer explained and I agreed that a shutdown would have provided political cover for Elon Musk to keep blowing up entire departments under DOGE. Now Musk is gone, DOGE is severely weakened, and the caucus has had more time to workshop their goals.

One important dynamic I think people often miss is that party discipline is weak in the US. Schumer can’t make the caucus go along with a shutdown fight; he has to convince them it’s a good idea, and be confident they’ll stay convinced for long enough to get what he wants, because otherwise the 7 most moderate members will happily defect and start writing their campaign ads about how they’re independent minded who won’t be pushed around by anyone. He’s already got 3 defectors in the current fight.