‘Absolutely Pathetic’: Senate Democrats Denounced For Caving To GOP In Shutdown Fight

“Let’s be clear — this proposal isn’t a compromise, it’s a capitulation,” said one progressive lawmaker in the US House.

By Jon Queally, Common Dreams

Fury on the progressive left and among lawmakers who opposed such “capitulation” to the Republican Party erupted overnight after a handful of Senate Democrats joined with their GOP counterparts in a procedural vote on Sunday night to end the government shutdown without gaining any meaningful concessions.

With the support of eight members of the Democratic caucus—Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Dick Durbin of Illinois, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Angus King of Maine, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire—Republicans in the upper chamber secured the necessary 60 votes needed to pass a cloture vote that paves the way for a deal critics warn does nothing to save Americans from soaring healthcare premiums unleashed due to the GOP spending bill passed earlier this year and signed into law by President Donald Trump.

“It is thoroughly disappointing that, while most Americans overwhelmingly oppose Republicans’ horrific budget, support the fight to curtail Trump’s authoritarianism, and want to protect healthcare, some Democrats failed to hold the line, and squandered an opportunity to score a popular and decisive win for the American people,” said Lisa Gilbert, co-director of the progressive watchdog group Public Citizen.

The deal will combine three separate funding measures into a single stopgap bill that will reopen the government and keep it funded through the end of January of 2026, but contains no restoration of Medicaid funding, fails to curb Trump rescissions that have devastated government agencies and programs, and does nothing to address Affordable Care Act subsidies other than a “meaningless” promised vote to extend them within 40 days—a vote nearly sure to fail in the Senate and likely not even taken up in the US House, controlled by Republicans.

“What the election showed is that the American people want us to stand up to Trumpism—to his war against working people, to his authoritarianism. That is what people wanted, but tonight that is not what happened.” —Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)

“How absolutely pathetic,” declared the Justice Democrats, an advocacy group that focuses on assisting progressive challengers willing to take on more establishment lawmakers in office. “Your voters expect you to hold the line for their basic healthcare and food benefits. This is just surrender. Every Senate Democrat that joined Republicans to pass this sold the American people out and we should make sure they have no future in public office.”

“Let’s be clear — this proposal isn’t a compromise, it’s a capitulation,” said Rep. Jonathan L. Jackson (D-Ill.). “Millions would lose their health coverage, and millions more would face skyrocketing premiums. The Senate should reject this misguided plan. In the House, my vote will be HELL NO.”

The original Dem demands were:1) Permanent ACA subsidies2) Medicaid funding restored3) No more blank checks for the regime (rescission)They dropped Medicaid immediately. Went silent on rescission. Cut back to 1 year of subsidies on Friday. And surrendered today.The Senate Democrats!

— Ezra Levin ❌👑 (@ezralevin.bsky.social) 2025-11-10T02:29:22.215Z

For Gilbert, the shutdown exhibited exactly “how far Republicans will go to demonstrate subservience to their authoritarian leader, even at the expense of the most basic needs of ordinary Americans. Republicans have destroyed affordable healthcare access for millions of Americans, and have allowed the President to weaponize hunger against millions more of our most vulnerable people, all so that they can bully through a budget that’s catapulting us towards a dystopian future of stark inequality.”

While the shutdown may come to an end this week, Gilbert said it remains imperative that “everyone who cares about the well-being of Americans to use all the leverage they have to push back on Trump’s authoritarianism and his cannibalizing of the basic needs of Americans for the benefit of his corporate donors and billionaire friends.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who, like Sen. King of Maine, caucuses with the Democrats, called it a “very bad night” as he condemned the eight members of the caucus for making a “very, very bad vote” at a time when the political winds and the moral argument were clearly on the side of holding the line.

“What it does, first of all,” said Sanders in a statement following the vote, “is it raises healthcare premiums for over 20 million Americans by doubling, and in some cases tripling or quadrupling. People can’t afford that when we are already paying the highest prices in the world for healthcare. Number two, it paves the way for 15 million people to be thrown off of Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act,” citing a statistic that indicates over 50,000 people “will die unnecessarily each year” due to lack of adequate healthcare coverage.

“All of that was done,” continued Sanders, “to give a $1 trillion in tax breaks to the top 1%.” In a political context, Sanders noted that last week’s electoral wins in numerous races across the country showed that voters are in the mood to reward lawmakers who stand up to President Donald Trump and his allies in Congress, rather than give in to them.

“What the election showed is that the American people want us to stand up to Trumpism—to his war against working people, to his authoritarianism,” he said. “That is what people wanted, but tonight that is not what happened.”

Democrats in the House, who had backed their Democratic colleagues for holding the line over 40 days in the Senate, fumed over the failure to keep going.

“Americans have endured the pain of the longest government shutdown in history for a ‘deal’ that guarantees nothing on healthcare,” said Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.). “If Republicans wanted to vote to extend subsidies, they would’ve done it already. Capitulating is unacceptable.”

“What Senate Dems who voted for this horseshit deal did was fuck over all the hard work people put in to Tuesday’s elections.” —Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.)

Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Senate Minority Leader, voted “no” on the deal. Still, it’s widely understood he was the driving force behind putting the agreement together and privately supported the eight lawmakers—none of whom are facing reelection in 2026—to cross over.

“Schumer voting ‘no’ for a shutdown deal he facilitated every step of the way,” noted journalist Ken Klippenstein. “Just trying to keep his hands clean. Don’t fall for it.”

In the wake of the vote, others called for Schumer to resign or be primaried for capitulating to deliver practically nothing.

The surrender by Democrats in the Senate facilitated by Schumer, opined journalist Krystal Ball, “perfectly encapsulates why centrists are the problem for the party both substantively and electorally. After romping nationwide victories, the worst members of the Democratic caucus decided to abandon the healthcare fight, which hurts Americans and demobilizes their own base.”