Democratic divisions emerge as senators advance short-term spending bill through January 2026, failing to secure healthcare subsidy extensions after 40-day shutdown.
The eight critical votes that advanced a short-term spending package on Sunday evening and put the government on the path to re-opening also tore the seams of Democratic Party unity, bringing scrutiny to its shutdown strategy and leadership.
One of the eight said that the plan Democrats had rallied around at its outset had crumbled.
„After six weeks — going on seven weeks — that path wasn’t working“, Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said. „It wasn’t going to happen. The question was: Does the shutdown further the goal of achieving some needed support for the extension of the tax credits? Our judgment was that it will not produce that result.“
„The evidence for that is almost seven weeks of fruitless attempts to make that happen. Would it change in a week? Or another week? Or after Thanksgiving? There’s no evidence that it would.“
To other Democrats, it’s the party’s top figures who led a losing effort.
„Senator Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced. If you can’t lead the fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for?“ Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif, said in a post on social media on Sunday.
The government first plunged into a shutdown 40 days ago on Oct.
