A Key Democrat Talks Shutdown Strategy

With federal funding set to expire on Wednesday, Democrats are facing one of their biggest tests of the Trump era: whether to risk a government shutdown to secure major health care concessions, or accept a Republican stopgap bill .

Few are pushing Democrats to hold the line more than Rep. Greg Casar, the 36-year-old Texas Democrat who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, an influential bloc of nearly 100 House Democrats who represent the more liberal wing of the party. In an interview with TIME on Friday, just four days ahead of the shutdown deadline, Casar argued that Democrats can’t “settle for crumbs” and must fight harder than they did in March, when Senate Democrats helped Republicans avoid a shutdown without extracting any concessions, a decision that infuriated the Demo