"We become irrelevant if we don't use our power on cloture to demand that we have a seat at the table," one Senate Democrat said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said a shutdown would be a “costly distraction” in Democrats’ larger fight against the Trump administration’s cuts.

President Trump is not the political colossus he and his supporters claim — and everything from the stock market to his opinion poll ratings prove it. The problem for Democrats is that their own divisions — on everything from legislation to a broader uncertainty about the party’s direction — have rendered them unable to take advantage.