Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, a staunch and unflinching Israel supporter, wants Hamas to accept the peace deal President Donald Trump is aiming to help broker, and is calling out pro-Palestinian protesters for not demanding that Hamas agree to the peace deal.

‘Good morning to everyone except all the protesters who aren’t protesting for Hamas to accept the peace deal,’ the senator declared in a Sunday post on X.

In a post on Friday, Fetterman shared a screenshot of a Mediaite headline that read, ‘CNN’s Dana Bash Wonders Why Pro-Palestine Movement Isn’t Pressuring Hamas to Accept Trump Deal’ — in his post, the senator commented, ‘For those protesters: Hamas > Peace,’ adding, ‘No flotilla, blocking a highway or disrupting public events demanding Hamas to take the peace deal.’

Israel went to war against Hamas in response to the heinous October 7, 2023, attack in which terrorists committed atrocities including mass murder, rape, and kidnapping. But Trump posted a statement on Truth Social last week in which Hamas declared willingness to negotiate a deal including the release of all hostages, dead and alive.

‘Hamas must choose peace or its own destruction. Send the hostages home, now. As an unapologetic supporter of Israel, the Gaza War must end to have peace and security for Israel and Palestinians. Politics aside, credit to @POTUS’ peace plan to get to this encouraging point,’ Fetterman noted in a Friday post on X, sharing a screenshot of a Reuters headline that said, ‘Hamas says it agrees to release all Israeli hostages under Trump Gaza plan.’

Trump indicated in a Sunday evening Truth Social post, ‘There have been very positive discussions with Hamas, and Countries from all over the World (Arab, Muslim, and everyone else) this weekend, to release the Hostages, end the War in Gaza but, more importantly, finally have long sought PEACE in the Middle East.’  

Later in the post, he warned, ‘TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE OR, MASSIVE BLOODSHED WILL FOLLOW — SOMETHING THAT NOBODY WANTS TO SEE!’

Fetterman accused the Democratic Party of an ‘ongoing and escalating betrayal of Israel,’ in a post on X last month.

Sharing a screenshot of a headline from The Hill that read, ‘Pair of Senate Democrats charge Israel with ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Palestinians,’ Fetterman firmly pushed back.

‘I reject this in the strongest terms. My party’s ongoing and escalating betrayal of Israel is gross and outrageous,’ he asserted.

A growing number of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have declared they’re forgoing their paychecks as the government shutdown drags on.

The federal government has been shut down for nearly a week after Senate Democrats rejected Republicans’ plan to fund agencies through Nov. 21 multiple times.

Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, Tom Barrett, R-Mich., Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, and Rob Bresnahan, R-Pa., are among the Republicans who wrote to the Chief Administrative Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives asking for their pay to be withheld during a shutdown.

Democrats like Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Lou Correa, D-Calif., have requested the same.

But lawmakers requesting their pay be withheld cannot forgo it altogether, because federal law requires them to be paid.

Article I of the Constitution states, ‘The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States.’

Further, the 27th Amendment prevents any changes to congressional pay until after the next election.

Most House and Senate lawmakers are paid $174,000 yearly — a figure that has not changed since 2009 — while members of congressional leadership can earn more.

A source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital that members of Congress can elect to have their pay withheld until a shutdown is over, but they must receive that as backpay when the government is funded again.

Meanwhile, Rep. Joe Morelle, D-N.Y., the top Democrat on the Committee for House Administration, told Bloomberg Government last week that those checks can go into an account separate from lawmakers’ usual salaries. He told the outlet, ‘It’s an administrative way of withholding pay for people who choose to.’

Congressional staffers, meanwhile, automatically miss paychecks if their pay period falls during a government shutdown — but that is also backpaid when the shutdown ends.

Some lawmakers, like Sens. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., have announced they would donate their paychecks for the duration of the shutdown.

‘Each day the government remains closed, I will be donating my salary to the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, which provides help to vulnerable populations who may be impacted by this reckless choice,’ Moody said in a statement last week.

This government shutdown isn’t President Donald Trump’s first rodeo navigating a lapse in government funding — but this time, the focus is less on the White House as all eyes are locked on Congress and its budget impasse. 

While the 35-day shutdown during Trump’s first term centered around the president’s priorities to fund a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico, the current shutdown doesn’t pit the White House against the legislative branch. 

Rather, there is a stalemate between Republicans and Democrats in Congress over certain healthcare provisions — alleviating pressure on the White House and giving Trump time to post videos showing House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., in a sombrero in an AI-generated clip underscoring Republicans’ claims that Democrats want to provide healthcare to illegal immigrants. 

This paves the way for Trump to remain in the wings during the partial shutdown, and let Democrats take the fall for the consequences, according to libertarian political columnist Kristin Tate.

‘By staying relatively quiet right now, President Trump is allowing Democrats to ‘own’ the shutdown,’ Tate said in a Wednesday email to Fox News Digital. ‘The president realizes that if he says anything confrontational right now, the narrative will center around his remarks rather than the Democrats’ refusal to support a reasonable spending bill.’ 

‘By maintaining a low profile, Trump is allowing the public to see how the Democrats are acting,’ Tate said. ‘The Democrats will ultimately bear most of the political consequences of the shutdown.’

The government entered a partial shutdown Wednesday, amid a stalemate between Senate Republicans and Democrats over a short-term funding bill to keep the government open through Nov. 21. The House had previously passed the temporary spending bill in September. 

Three Senate Democrats joined Republicans to vote for the stopgap funding bill Tuesday, but the measure fell short of the required 60 votes needed for passage. 

Meanwhile, Trump and Republicans have claimed Democrats are seeking to provide health care for illegal immigrants, keeping the government from operating. They cite a provision that would repeal part of Trump’s tax and domestic policy bill — the so-called ‘big, beautiful bill’ — which scaled back Medicaid eligibility for noncitizens. 

But Democrats have said Republicans’ claims are false, and instead, have said they want to permanently extend certain Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to lapse at the end of 2025. 

‘They say that undocumented people are going to get these credits,’ Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday. ‘That is absolutely false. That is one of the big lies that they tell.’

The shutdown differs from the one during Trump’s first term, where Trump and Democrats in Congress sparred about nearly $6 billion in funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall in the spending bill for weeks. 

Ultimately, Trump backed off amid mounting pressure to reopen the government so federal employees could resume being paid after weeks of stalled payroll, and signed off on legislation to temporarily reopen the government without the border wall funding. 

Matt Wolking, who previously served as the deputy communications director for Trump’s 2020 campaign, said that the main difference between this shutdown in comparison to the previous one is that Democrats are the one requesting a policy change — not the White House. 

‘Trump is as engaged as ever — and using humor effectively, of course — and the biggest difference between now and then is that now it’s Democrats who are demanding a specific policy change,’ Wolking said in a Wednesday email to Fox News Digital. ‘They voted against funding the government because they want taxpayer-funded health care for illegal immigrants, and that’s why Trump and Republicans are well positioned to win the shutdown messaging battle this time.’ 

Additionally, Republican strategist Matt Gorman said that Democrats have put themselves in a tough position since they were the ones that voted against the continuing resolution. 

‘Times have shown over and over through the years that the public supports funding the government. They penalize the party that attaches extra policy priorities to whatever bill does that,’ Gorman, who previously served as the communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a Wednesday email to Fox News Digital. ‘You’re already seeing moderate Democrats splinter off. As this goes on, I expect that to continue.’

Meanwhile, Trump is taking advantage of the shutdown to advance his priorities to whittle down the federal government in an unprecedented move. The White House’s Office of Management and Budget ordered agencies in Septemberto draw up plans for a reduction-in-force in the event of a lapse in appropriations. 

While federal employees typically are furloughed during government shutdowns, the Trump administration’s plans would permanently scale back the size of the federal workforce if a government shutdown occurs.

‘Republicans must use this opportunity of Democrat forced closure to clear out dead wood, waste, and fraud,’ Trump said in a social media post on Wednesday. ‘Billions of Dollars can be saved. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!’ 

Vice President JD Vance has adopted a proactive role carrying the administration’s position, and told reporters Tuesday he predicted the shutdown wouldn’t last long. Specifically, he said that evidence suggests moderate Democrats are ‘cracking a little’ because they understand the ‘fundamental illogic’ of the shutdown. 

Still, he said that layoffs were forthcoming. Trump said Sunday that layoffs were ‘taking place right now’ as thousands of workers’ jobs remain in jeopardy. 

‘We’re going to have to make things work,’ Vance said. ‘And that means that we’re going to have to triage some certain things, that means certain people are going to have to get laid off. And we’re going to try to make sure that the American people suffer as little as possible from the shutdown.’

The White House said in a statement to Fox News Digital that every shutdown comes with consequences.

‘The Democrats can reopen the government at any time,’ White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said Monday. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., dismissed the top House Democrat’s demand for a primetime debate on the government shutdown.

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., wrote to Johnson on Monday morning challenging him to a debate on the House floor ‘any day this week,’ to be broadcast live ‘to the American people.’

Johnson suggested he would not entertain that, however, calling the move a ‘publicity stunt’ to reporters that same morning.

‘When the poll says that about 13% of the people approve of your messaging, then you make desperate pleas for attention, and that’s what Hakeem Jeffries has done,’ Johnson said.

‘We debated all this on the House floor. As you know, before we passed our bill, he spoke for seven or eight minutes. He had all of his colleagues lined up. They gave it their best shot, and they argued, and they stomped their feet and screamed at us and all that. And still we passed the bill in bipartisan fashion and sent it over to the Senate.’

The House speaker was referring to a short-term federal funding bill aimed at keeping the government running through Nov. 21, in order to give congressional negotiators more time to pass fiscal year (FY) 2026 spending priorities.

That bill passed the House largely along party lines — with two Republicans opposed and one Democrat in support — but has stalled in the Senate.

‘The House has done its job. I’m not going to let Hakeem try to pretend for theatrics. I mean, this is a [Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.] decision. The ball is in the Senate’s court now,’ Johnson said.

‘We don’t need to waste time on that nonsense. Those debates have been had. I mean, Hakeem is a friend and a colleague. I respect him, but we all know what he’s trying to do there.’

The government is in its sixth day of the current shutdown, with Senate Democrats having rejected the GOP-led funding plan four times.

Democrats in the House and Senate, infuriated by being sidelined in federal funding talks, have been pushing for an extension of Obamacare subsidies enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those enhancements would expire by the end of 2025 without congressional action.

‘Democrats have been clear and consistent in our position. The country needs immediate, bipartisan negotiations between the White House and congressional leadership in order to reach an enlightened spending agreement that reopens the government, improves the lives of hardworking American taxpayers and addresses the Republican healthcare crisis,’ Jeffries wrote to Johnson on Monday.

‘Unfortunately, Donald Trump and your party decided to shut down the government, because the GOP refuses to provide healthcare to everyday Americans. Further, you have kept House Republicans on vacation instead of working with Democrats to reopen the government.’

The government shutdown entered its sixth day on Monday, and Senate Democrats are so firmly planted in their position that unless there is a deal on expiring Obamacare tax credits, they will not reopen the government. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus have largely remained unflinching in their demand that Republicans and President Donald Trump agree to a deal on the tax credits, which are set to expire by the end of the year.

It’s one of several demands they made in their counter-proposal to the GOP’s continuing resolution (CR), and appears to be the one that they believe to be the most attainable. Their other demands, repealing the healthcare section of the ‘big, beautiful bill’ and putting guardrails on the rescissions, are a nonstarter for Republicans and the White House.

Still, no party that has introduced unrelated demands into a government shutdown fight has walked away with a victory. The last government shutdown in early 2019 saw Trump demand that Democrats provide funding for his border wall, and he walked away empty-handed.

Throughout last week, Senate Democrats maintained a posture that they wanted Republicans to come to the negotiating table on the subsidies, which are set to sunset at the end of this year. Conversations among members are ongoing, which both Schumer and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., have encouraged.

‘We want Democrats to talk with Republicans,’ Schumer said. ‘And so it’s a good thing.’

But, he countered that Republicans hadn’t offered ‘anything really new — just the same old stuff.’

‘And so, nothing new on [Obamacare], nothing on rescissions,’ he said. ‘And so, look, Democrats want to go back and negotiate again, but they got to negotiate with something, get something in return.’

Democrats’ initial push was to make the subsidies — created during the COVID-19 pandemic to ease the cost of healthcare premiums available through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — permanent. The subsidies were later enhanced through the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 when Democrats last had a trifecta in Washington. That change removed the income cap on the subsidies. 

Republicans have said that they are interested in working out something on the tax credits, but that there should be reforms to the program.

‘The Obamacare enhanced, or COVID subsidies, are inflationary, and rates have been going up because that program is fundamentally flawed in ways designed,’ Thune said. ‘That doesn’t mean it can’t be reformed and fixed. It can, but we can’t get to that conversation until we get the government back open.’

Lawmakers are set to again vote on Republicans’ CR, and it is again expected to fail for a fifth time Monday, given that no deal was struck over the weekend. Both sides agree that a deal won’t come from the top level, but will have to be borne from negotiations among rank-and-file members.

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., has been directly involved in the member-level negotiations and said that Republicans did want to tackle the Obamacare issue. But, Democrats have to agree to reopen the government first.

‘It would be nice if Sen. Schumer could say his shutdown is complete, but we suspect that it will take members of his conference to make that decision on his behalf,’ Rounds said.