Congressman Dave Min’s latest appearance in a video urging Senate Republicans to “open up the government” has the hallmarks of a carefully staged political performance—righteous outrage, finger-pointing, and just enough selective memory to obscure his own role in the very crisis he’s condemning.
Flanked by fellow Democrat Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, Min delivers a moral lecture about the dangers of a government shutdown: unpaid TSA agents, social security delays, and missed paychecks for active-duty troops. He talks about the real impact this has on constituents near his California district. “We saw that in Burbank today,” he says, referring to an alleged shortage of air traffic controllers. The picture painted is dire—and no doubt, many of these consequences are real. But what’s conspicuously missing is Min’s own vote against a GOP-backed bill that would have averted the shutdown altogether.
Spoke with @CongressMin on how the Republican shutdown is affecting airports and air traffic controllers across the country. pic.twitter.com/6SlG9ieB9U
— Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (VA-10) (@RepSuhas) October 13, 2025
That bill, a stopgap funding measure to keep the government open through November 21, was rejected by nearly every Democrat in the House—including Min and Subramanyam. And yet, here they are, lamenting the shutdown’s effects as though they had no part in its creation.
Min’s argument hinges on the idea that the GOP bill was unacceptable because it made cuts to healthcare and food aid programs. That’s fair terrain for debate. But it’s disingenuous to reject a bill, offer no viable alternative, and then scold the other side for the resulting chaos. It's governing by grievance, not solution.
This is not Min’s first foray into reckless political messaging. Just weeks ago, he falsely attributed the motivations of a criminal suspect to the MAGA movement, rushing to judgment without evidence. The post was never corrected, despite the fact that the narrative crumbled under scrutiny. That episode—like this one—reveals a pattern: react first, confirm later, and if caught, simply move on.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration is trying to paper over the consequences. Emergency funds from tariffs were redirected to prop up WIC, the food aid program for low-income mothers and infants. Military pay was shielded through weekend executive action. But these are temporary patches, not fixes. The root problem—Congress’s inability to pass a bipartisan budget—remains.
The truth is, the shutdown was avoidable. The House Republicans produced a funding package. Democrats chose not to support it. Then, within hours, they flooded social media to blame Republicans for the very shutdown they helped engineer.
