The US government was shut down for weeks – and then Democrats shrugged their shoulders and gave up The US government was shut down for weeks – and then Democrats shrugged their shoulders and gave up Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, has a pair of very sweet imaginary friends. They’re a middle-class couple called Joe and Eileen Bailey and they live on Long Island. At one point the imaginary couple, who feature in Schumer’s 2007 book , Positively American, were called the O’Reillys.