Leading congressional Democrats thought they had it made. Force a government shutdown, sabotage President Donald Trump’s agenda – at least for a time – and then extort their Republican opponents on Capitol Hill for all kinds of cash to fund their pet projects. Then Sunday (Nov. 9) rolled around, and seven Senate Democrats and one Independent voted with Republicans to push through a temporary government funding bill. That sets up a fight on the House floor, but the 41-day-old shutdown is, for all intents and purposes, over.
Democrats got nothing but a promise from Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to hold a vote on extending Obamacare subsidies. That’s not much of a win, since Republicans had already signaled they were willing to do that if Democrats gave them the votes they needed to get the lights back on in Washington, DC.
Schumer Shutdown Takes on a New Meaning
It is a resounding defeat for the opposition party, by any measure. Undoubtedly, the biggest loser is Chuck Schumer (D-NY), whose leadership of Senate Democrats is now very much in question.
“Senator Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) proclaimed on X, after the Sunday vote. “If you can’t lead the fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for?”
It is worth noting that those healthcare subsidies, though due to expire at the end of the year, have not gone away yet. So, if healthcare premiums are currently “skyrocketing,” the subsidies are not doing any good. That means Democrats do not just want an extension of the payments, but, surely, they will also be looking for a massive increase.
A statement from one of the most influential progressive activist organizations, Indivisible, bemoaned “a divided and weak opposition party” and appeared to throw down the gauntlet at a time when the progressive/socialist wing of the party is becoming more dominant. “We hope to celebrate the Democratic Party for fighting back. But if they surrender, the next step is primaries and new leadership," it said.
Writing on the Wall
Those Democrats who rebelled against their party’s intransigence simply acknowledged the inevitable – neither side was going to give in and the many disruptions caused by the shutdown were only going to get worse.
Even the pro-Democrat Washington Post editorial board saw the writing on the wall. Musing that, for some politicians, “the theater of obstructionism is more important than policy,” the editorial cited previous shutdowns to posit, "the party that takes the government hostage to advance its policy goals almost never succeeds."
Addressing the storm of disgust coming out of the Democratic Party’s progressive wing, The Post editorial said, "They’re mad that Democrats didn’t get an extension of all covid-era Obamacare subsidies, but the public could do without such faux outrage."
Shutdown Narratives Unravel
The shutdown narratives have been both amusing and confusing. For the almost six weeks the shutdown lasted, there was no acknowledgement on the left that Democrat votes were needed to reopen government. Republicans controlled the House, the Senate, and the White House. They owned the shutdown. That was the soundbite – the implication that the GOP shut the government down and could open it back up if and when it chose to. And keeping it shut was cruelty. Americans were suffering.
Now, progressives directing their frustration at the Democrat rebels and the party’s leaders are acknowledging the two flaws in their narrative: first, that Republicans could not reopen the government without those Democrat votes, and, second, that progressives wanted the shutdown to continue, suffering Americans be damned.
When the revised continuing resolution finally passed by the Senate goes back to the House, the recriminations are only going to get louder and more pointed. The likes of progressive firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) will no doubt take full advantage of their opportunities to express their indignation at the injustice of it all. For Democrats, 2025 has been a long year. The funding fight will resume in January, so 2026 is already shaping up to be equally as difficult.
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