Senate Democrats are acknowledging the harm their own constituents face during the prolonged shutdown.

But they are increasingly dug in against reopening the government. They demand $1.5 trillion in spending first.

Democratic Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy told reporters that shutdowns are a nightmare. They are impacting his constituents. But he sought to pin the blame on Republicans.

The shutdown entered its seven-day mark on Tuesday.

Murphy and the majority of Senate Democrats have repeatedly tanked a bipartisan spending bill. The bill would fund the government. They are showing little indication they will reverse course.

“Having been through shutdowns before, they’re a nightmare. I’m concerned about all the impacts of a shutdown.”

“There’s impacts on the military. There’s impacts on families who send their kids to Head Start [programs]. There’s impacts on air traffic in this country. But I mean, how on earth does [Speaker] Mike Johnson say anything with a straight face right now when he won’t even bring his members here to vote on anything?”

Republicans have nearly unanimously voted to avert a funding lapse. They have done this since the shutdown began on Oct. 1.

Speaker Johnson repeatedly defended his move to adjourn the House during the shutdown. He argued that his chamber did its job. The House passed a clean funding bill in September to avert a funding lapse.

Murphy has voted against that measure five times in the Senate. This is in sharp contrast to three members of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s caucus. Those three have routinely crossed party lines to fund the government.

A long-term shutdown is expected to inflict far-reaching consequences. Americans who receive a federal paycheck will be affected. So will those who depend on federal-run programs.

The White House moved to shore up a food aid program on Tuesday. The program was in danger of running out of funding during the shutdown. Some federal health care services that Medicare beneficiaries rely on have expired.

A federal flood insurance program has also expired.

Millions of Americans are reporting to work despite no expectation of being paid on time. This includes active-duty service members.

Murphy said he understood some Americans’ anxiety around the shutdown. But he argued that Democrats were not to blame. Active-duty service members would not receive a paycheck if the government is still shut down by Oct. 15.

That is the military’s next pay date.

“I care about the military’s paychecks, but there’s a lot of other people, who if they miss a paycheck or two, will have their lives deeply impacted. Again — this is just to me — I don’t understand why one party is boycotting Washington right now.”

Top GOP leaders hammered Democrats for keeping the government closed. They spoke with reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune made strong statements about the shutdown.

“Every day that the Democrats keep the government shut down is creating more, and worse, consequences for the American people. The White House estimates that it’s costing our economy about $15 billion a week to continue to have the government shut down.”

Murphy also signaled on Tuesday that he may never vote for a bill that funds the government. He indicated he may never get to a comfortable place to vote yes.

Many Democrats have centered their demands on extending Covid-era Obamacare subsidies. These subsidies are slated to expire at the year’s end. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has made this a key demand.

Murphy told reporters he will need concessions from Republicans. He wants to limit Trump’s ability to rescind funding to reopen the government. This is likely to be a nonstarter for Republicans.

The Democrats’ $1.5 trillion counterproposal would temporarily fund the government. It would also eliminate a $50 million rural hospital fund. It would undo cuts to public broadcasting and foreign aid.

“This is a unique moment where we can demand that we’re only going to vote for a budget that helps our people and stops the lawlessness. I want the ACA subsidies restored, but I also would be a sucker to vote for a budget that allows Trump to continue to get away with this level of corruption and allows him to just cancel the spending in the bill for states like Connecticut.”

“We’re not asking for anything unreasonable here. We just want the President to obey the law, and we want people’s premiums to not go up by 100%.”

Murphy’s statements reveal the hypocrisy at the heart of the Democratic position. He admits the shutdown is a nightmare. He admits it hurts his constituents. He admits military families and Medicare beneficiaries are suffering.

But he refuses to end it.

Murphy has voted five times against a clean funding bill. Republicans have offered a simple solution to keep the government open. Democrats keep rejecting it.

The senator’s excuse is that he needs $1.5 trillion in spending demands met first. He wants Covid-era Obamacare subsidies extended. He wants to limit President Trump’s authority over federal spending.

These are radical demands that Republicans will never accept. Murphy knows this. But he continues to vote against reopening the government anyway.

The shutdown is costing the economy $15 billion per week according to White House estimates. Service members won’t get paid on Oct. 15 if this continues. Federal programs are running out of money.

Murphy calls this a nightmare but won’t stop it.