Senate signs deal to end historic government shutdown
Lawmakers agree to end longest government shutdown in history and reopen government through January 30th
WASHINGTON — A week ago, Democrats were jubilant. They believed they were trying to rebuild trust and credibility after a wave of election victories across the country.
No more.
After a handful of moderate senators broke off a deal with Republicans to reopen the government, Democrats from across the spectrum tore the group apart, accusing it of wasting the party’s influence.
The deal brings back laid-off federal workers and funds higher levels of food assistance, but includes only a promise to vote to renew the expired Obamacare subsidies that were at the center of the shutdown. The U.S. Senate passed a funding measure on Monday to end a record government shutdown, putting the federal government on track to reopen within days.
Presidential candidates slammed Senate Democrats who crossed the aisle to support the bill. Last week’s winners, including New Jersey’s Mikie Sherrill and New York City’s Zoran Mandani, have also harshly criticized the bill. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer did not vote for the bill, but found himself in a bind anyway.
“It’s a ray of light in an otherwise pretty gloomy year,” said Joseph Guivarghese, executive director of the progressive group Our Revolution.”Leave it to the Democrats to get the moment wrong and let it pass.” “There is a fundamental disconnect between party leadership and the grassroots, and I think the agreement signed yesterday is typical of that disconnect.”
Schumer angered Democrats in March by voting to keep the government open. This time, it tried to force President Donald Trump’s hand by supporting the shutdown. Democrats held out a vote on Obamacare for more than five weeks, but on Sunday moderates released a deal that falls short of their party’s demands.
Sherrill, a moderate New Jersey lawmaker who won last Tuesday to become the state’s next governor, called the deal a “fraud” in a statement. Mamdani, who describes himself as a democratic socialist, said this would “only worsen the affordability crisis” and should be rejected.
“The voters have made it clear: Americans want leadership with backbone,” Sherrill said. “And at a critical moment when we need leaders who will stand strong under pressure, the Senate is on the brink of forcing a vote on legislation that Americans cannot afford.”
That sentiment was widely shared among politicians and activists, who accused lawmakers in Washington of being out of touch with their party’s voters.
“This capitulation to Trump and the Republican Party exemplifies why young people don’t trust the party system,” youth group NextGen America said in a statement from Interim President Victoria Yang. “Under the leadership of Senator Schumer, eight Democrats have capitulated and abandoned their base in the process.”
“Last Tuesday, young people showed up to vote against Democrats, and now eight Senate Democrats have betrayed that trust,” Yang said. “For many people across the country, this decision will mean higher health insurance premiums and, in some cases, the difference between life and death.”
The deal came after five Democrats not on the 2026 ballot — Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Jacky Rosen of Nevada and Tim Kaine of Virginia — agreed to flip their votes. They were joined by three other members of the Democratic caucus who had voted for the Republican bill from the beginning: Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, and independent Angus King of Maine.
Durbin is the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate. He and Shaheen both plan to retire.
“Honestly, I don’t understand why departing senators would make party-wide decisions. Why were they even negotiating in the first place?” Neera Tanden, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, wrote about X.
Tanden, a former top adviser to President Joe Biden, said the deal “makes no sense” and warned that Republicans “are not going to negotiate with you” on health care premiums.
President Trump insisted in the Oval Office on November 10 that he would abide by the agreement.
Democratic Party hopefuls lash out
Several potential 2028 candidates within the party have also slammed the deal, including former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who called it a “bad deal” on the X Show, and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who called it an “empty promise.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose redistricting initiative won at the ballot box last week, slammed the deal as “pathetic” in a social media post.
Congressman Ro Khanna went a step further, saying on X (formerly Twitter) that Schumer should be expelled from the party’s leadership.
“Senator Schumer is no longer effective and should be removed. If you can’t lead the fight to stop rising health care costs for Americans, what are you going to fight for?” Khanna wrote.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said at a news conference that he supports Schumer.
But the support did little to quell the uproar in liberal and progressive groups, where a poll of members after last Tuesday’s election found that 90% said Schumer “should resign” as party leader and 92% said they would support Schumer’s primary opponent.
Activists say Schumer voted against the bill but shares responsibility as caucus leader.
“He can’t stop spending,” Guivarghese said. “At least he should be able to unite the members, and he couldn’t. That’s not a sign of leadership. That’s incompetence.”
Tomorrow’s Voters, a Gen Z-focused group, said the eight senators had “betrayed our generation” and that, “Whether through complicity or incompetence, Chuck Schumer has proven once again that he is incapable of providing the kind of leadership that young Americans demand.” They should resign from their leadership positions.
“Young people don’t want leaders who give in in the face of battle. Young people’s support cannot be taken for granted and must be earned every day,” the group said.
Joel Payne, MoveOn’s chief communications officer, said the energy around the fighters was the reason Democrats from various wings of the party were able to win last Tuesday.
He said the group’s members are asking, “Who is fighting for us? Do these people understand the situation we are in? Do they understand how hurt we are? How scared are we? How much danger are we in?”
“And if you can’t get the people to understand that, that’s an unsustainable political position at this point. If you can’t convince the people that you’re ready to fight,” Payne said in an interview.
