The government shutdown has entered its second week. In that time, Democrats have had numerous opportunities to end the shutdown by supporting the clean funding extension that has already passed the House and that President Trump is ready to sign. But, at the behest of their far-left base, they remain determined to prolong the government shutdown and the pain it is causing around the country.

Not even the prospect of American troops, law enforcement, and other federal workers going without a paycheck has been enough to get Democrats to support a clean bill to reopen the government. The Democrat leader’s only interest seems to be in what the shutdown does for his party. “Every day gets better for us,” he says. I don’t know whether every day is getting better for Democrats, but it’s certainly not getting better for the American people, who continue to suffer the consequences of Democrats’ shutdown.

The reason we’re in this mess – the reason why paychecks for service members and law enforcement officers are in jeopardy – is because Democrats’ far-left base has demanded that Democrats fight President Trump at all costs. And so even though Republicans haven’t asked Democrats to support a single new Republican policy, Senate Democrats continue to reject passing a clean, nonpartisan funding bill. They continue to bow to their far-left base, which is telling them to hold out, and insist on a staggering $1.5 trillion in new partisan spending.

Democrats may be earning points with the far left, but I doubt they are getting much praise from any other corner. A recent poll found that 65 percent of voters think Democrats should reopen the government instead of holding out for their partisan demands. And I expect that number will only grow as Democrats’ blocking government funding only causes more pain.

There’s no reason it has to be this way. The clean, nonpartisan funding extension the House advanced is just one Senate roll call vote away from going to the president. President Trump stands ready to sign it. The shutdown can end as soon as a handful of Democrats decide they have had enough and join Republicans to support the clean extension. If Democrats would only agree, we could reopen the government in a matter of hours and stop this madness.

When this ends is entirely up to Democrats. The only viable option is to pass the clean funding extension, and we need just a handful more Democrat senators to pass this bill. We need just a handful of Democrats to realize that their partisan demands aren’t worth widespread pain. Time will tell if they will.