Another day, another disappointing example of Washington’s dysfunction, leaving everyday Americans caught in the crossfire.
Seven moderate Democrats and one independent who caucuses with Democrats broke with the rest of their party Sunday night to vote with Republicans and advance legislation to end the government shutdown. These eight senators, none of whom are up for re-election in 2026, likely believe they’re achieving the greater good by not letting stubborn, unyielding Republicans continue to hurt the American people, including federal workers and those who rely on food assistance, but many people, including their party members, think they’re simply giving in and getting virtually nothing in return outside of a Republican promise to circle back to the healthcare subsidies issue at a later date.
It’s like — Democrats had a good time smacking Republicans around last Tuesday and achieving the blue wave we were all hoping for, and, in less than a week, some of them seem all too eager to mess up the momentum.
From the New York Times:
The compromise measure that passed by a 60-to-40 vote came with a pledge from Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and the majority leader, to allow a vote in December on the Democrats’ key demand: extending health care subsidies that are due to expire at the end of the year.
But many Democrats have said for weeks that such a measure would be unacceptable, because it was unlikely to pass in the Republican-led Congress. If the subsidies expire, it would significantly increase insurance premiums for millions of Americans.
Republicans spent weeks lying about Democrats trying to give free health benefits to undocumented migrants, knowing they have tried to do no such thing, and that it would be impossible for people who don’t have U.S. Social Security numbers to apply for them anyway. The Trump administration put the very definition of propaganda on full display by having nearly every federal government website blame the Democratic Party for the shutdown, despite Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress and the executive branch. They wanted videos in every airport blaming Democrats for canceled flights. Republicans even moved to gaslight the nation by saying it’s their political rivals who are preventing SNAP from being funded by not going along, as if President Donald Trump wasn’t fighting legal battles to defy judges who told him to use contingency funds to pay out benefits, because that’s literally what the funds are for.
And somehow, these eight congressmen believe Republicans can be negotiated with after they’ve already given them what they want without getting anything in return? How many times do they have to be shown that MAGA Republicans are not going to join them on that high road they love so much?
“It’s complete BS. A concept of a possible vote,” Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) told Axios. “People need healthcare, damn it. Not some lame promise about a mythical future vote.”
“I’m voting no on the continuing resolution that would double healthcare premiums for 20 million Americans, kick 15 million people off Medicaid & allow 50,000 Americans to die unnecessarily every year. All to give $1 trillion in tax breaks for billionaires,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) wrote on social media ahead of the vote, according to CNN.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said the bill fails to “decisively address the Republican healthcare crisis,” and said Sunday ahead of the vote that his party “will not support spending legislation advanced by Senate Republicans that fails to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits,” a strong statement that took only moments to not age well.
“I assume all of us that have been fighting to protect our constituents from soaring healthcare costs will vote against this,” Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) told Axios.
Well, let’s take a look at the independent and seven Democrats who failed to live up to that promise.
Sen. August King (I-Maine), one of the lead negotiators of the deal, according to the Times, said many “people are being hurt” by the shutdown, prompting him and his colleagues to bend without extending Affordable Care Act subsidies.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said he voted in favor of the deal for the promise of the future healthcare vote, and to reverse layoffs made during the shutdown and ensure that furloughed workers would receive back pay.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), who is retiring at the end of his term, “underlined that the legislation advanced on Sunday night was different from the one voted down by Democrats 14 times over the course of the shutdown because it included the provision to reverse layoffs,” the Times reported.
“This bill is not perfect, but it takes important steps to reduce their shutdown’s hurt,” Durbin said in a statement.
Sen. John Fetterman *D-Penn.) had already voted with Republicans to end the shutdown 14 times prior to Sunday’s vote. In a tweet, he himself “a consistent voice against shutting our government down,” and apologized to members of the military, food stamp recipients, government workers, and Capitol Police officers “who haven’t been paid in weeks.”
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) said in a statement that now was the time for Republicans to engage in “serious, bipartisan negotiations” to extend the expiring health insurance subsidies. (And by “now,” she, apparently, means later, assuming the Republicans keep their promise and also vote in favor of the extension.)
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who is also retiring at the end of her term, said at a news conference that the legislation “is our best path” toward reopening the government and extending the health care tax credits.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada) said in a statement that while the government must extend the health insurance subsidies, “that can’t come at the expense of the millions of Americans across our country impacted by a shutdown.” (I mean, the healthcare subsidies are due to expire next year. That’s — that’s part of the “expense,” is it not?)
You can bet congressional Republicans are going to count this as a win for their party, and the Trump administration will credit the president and the Republican-controlled Congress for ending what they have, ad nauseam, called “the Democrat shutdown.” This is what will always happen when one party is full of bullies who are largely indifferent to people suffering, and the other party tends to cave because it just doesn’t know what else to do, sending the message that they will always serve as the party that compromises with the party that will destroy America as long as it wins.
Trump Threatens Air Traffic Controllers Amid The Government Shutdown
Not only that, but Trump took to Truth Social to threaten federal air traffic controllers who called out of work amid the shutdown, many of whom have gone more than 40 days without pay.
Posting to Truth Social, Trump wrote that he was “NOT HAPPY” with controllers who took time off, insisting that “all Air Traffic Controllers must get back to work, NOW!!!” and warning that “anyone who doesn’t will be substantially ‘docked.’”
Trump, meanwhile, praised those who have continued to work through the shutdown as “GREAT PATRIOTS” and said he would recommend they each receive a $10,000 bonus once the shutdown ends. He added that any controllers who quit “will receive NO payment or severance of any kind!” and would be “quickly replaced by true Patriots.”
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association pushed back on Trump’s comments, telling NPR that “the vast majority of these highly trained and skilled professionals continue to perform one of the most stressful and demanding jobs in the world, despite not being compensated.” The group noted that many controllers are “working six-day weeks and ten-hour days without any pay,” calling them “unsung heroes” who “deserve our praise.”
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