Larry Kudlow Says Trump Derangement Syndrome, Not Health Care, Fuels Federal Shutdown
Jeffries said Democrats opposed the spending bill because it did not extend Affordable Care Act tax credits.

SOURCE CHECK
TAP FOR WHYTownhall is a partisan opinion-oriented publisher, which lowers confidence in its institutional neutrality. The article identifies its author and includes attributed statements from named figures, but offers little independent reporting or verification.
- Source type — Opinion-oriented publisher with a discernible partisan perspective.
- Editorial standards — The presentation includes overtly partisan editorial language.
- Author attribution — The article identifies an author.
- Transparency — Statements are attributed to named public figures, but the article provides little original sourcing.
The article uses named, attributed statements from Kudlow, Jeffries and Johnson and mentions effects of the shutdown. It provides little independent evidence or detail about the competing claims, and its editorial note explicitly assigns blame.
HOW WE SCORE ↗The article includes Jeffries’s explanation and statements from Johnson and Kudlow, but the editorial note explicitly endorses blame of Democrats. It does not independently examine the competing accounts or provide much context about the spending dispute.
- Loaded language — The editorial note calls the shutdown the “Schumer Shutdown” and says Democrats were “screwing Americans.”
- Counterarguments presented — Jeffries’s stated objection to the spending bill and its health-care provisions appears, but receives limited context.
- Opinion vs reporting — The editor’s note directly advances a partisan conclusion about responsibility.
- Source diversity — The article quotes figures from both parties but supplies no independent expert or documentary assessment.
The article’s editorial note adopts a strongly anti-Democratic framing, calling the shutdown the “Schumer Shutdown” and saying Democrats “caved.” It gives space to Jeffries’s response, but the overall presentation aligns with Kudlow’s criticism and Johnson’s account.
- Language tone — The editorial note uses loaded language to blame Democrats for the shutdown.
- Framing — The headline foregrounds Kudlow’s claim that opposition to Trump, rather than health care, drove the shutdown.
- Source selection — The article includes statements from both party leaders but gives substantial space to criticism of Democrats.
- Omission — It does not provide independent evidence to assess the competing explanations for the shutdown.
As the House prepared to vote on reopening the government, Larry Kudlow argued the shutdown was driven by opposition to Trump rather than health care. Hakeem Jeffries defended Democrats’ position on health-care tax credits, while Mike Johnson blamed Democrats for the shutdown’s effects.
The article says the Senate had voted to reopen the government and the House was preparing to vote. Larry Kudlow argued that the shutdown was about “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” not health care, and criticized Democrats for continuing it. The article also reports that federal employees missed paychecks, flights were disrupted and federal food benefits were delayed.
Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats opposed the spending bill because it did not extend Affordable Care Act tax credits, and the article says he introduced a bill to extend the act by three years. Mike Johnson said he hoped the shutdown would end and blamed Democrats for its effects, while apologizing to affected families, troops and federal employees.
Community verdict
18 VOTES- Readers of left-leaning coverage: not enough votes yet
- Readers of right-leaning coverage: 57% good look
People in this story
SWIPE →House Minority Leader opposing the spending bill and advocating an extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits
Speaker of the House anticipating a vote to reopen the government and blaming Democrats for the shutdown
Johnson's version of this story ↗Senate Minority Leader referred to in Kudlow’s criticism and the editor’s note
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