Thanks for nothing, guys
I honestly don't know what I expected.
Last night, 8 turncoat motherfuckers–I mean, Senate Democrats, made the bold choice to break with the party and promise to vote on legislation that would end the longest government shutdown in history. According to AP reporting,
The legislation provides funding to reopen the government, including for SNAP food aid and other programs, while also ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers the Trump administration had left in doubt.
But notably lacking is any clear resolution to expiring health care subsidies that Democrats have been fighting for as millions of Americans stare down rising insurance premiums. That debate was pushed off for a vote next month, weeks before the subsidies are set to expire.
The decision to do so has made pretty much everyone furious, and justifiably so.
Ultimately, this isn’t just about 8 Democrat Senators making a deal based on promises full of hot air, but the failure of the party to maintain a backbone this late in the game. You can’t ask your constituents to endure 40+ days of suffering—missed paychecks, lost SNAP benefits, hours spent negotiating with creditors and standing in the bread lines—for nothing. The sudden heel-turn feels like a betrayal because it is one. I'm honestly surprised I'm so surprised.
It doesn’t matter if this was just another chess move in a long line of incomprehensible chess moves, as Noted Political Explainers have gone to great pains to explain. What matters here is the Dems, for the first time in 11 months, finally began to feel like an opposition party, and in spectacular fashion, they blew it.
Buoyed by the wins of last Tuesday’s elections, it felt like a no-brainer that the Democrats in the Senate would continue to hold out, lay the blame for the privation and chaos firmly at the feet of the GOP, and wait for the courts to decide on the SNAP fiasco (in a grimly hilarious turn, they did rule, mere hours after the Cave Caucus registered their votes, to reject the Trump Administration's request for a stay on delaying payments).
But alas, this party doesn’t give a fig about its constituents. The news and rumors coming off the Hill that Dems like Chuck Schumer were aware of the scheming, probably rubberstamped it, and made sure that the senators who fell on their swords couldn’t be primaried in 2026 makes this all the more enraging.
It was all for nothing, and now we get to sit here and watch these folks make their rounds on the network circuit to tell us that no, you’re just stupid, you have no idea how this works, we’re playing 10D chess with the GOP, the shutdown wasn’t working, yadda yadda yadda.
Durbin said critics of his vote “need to understand how the Senate works”
— Matthew Eadie (@mattheweadie.bsky.social) 2025-11-10T02:43:08.640Z
Meanwhile, Mike Johnson is telling reporters that they won’t commit to a vote on ACA subsidies in the House. From TNR,
The handful of Democratic (and one independent) senators who caved to support the Republicans’ continuing resolution Sunday claimed that they’d managed to secure a House vote on a bill ensuring the continuance of Affordable Care Act subsidies. Not only is such a measure unlikely to pass the GOP-controlled House, but Johnson wouldn’t even commit to the vote Monday as reporters shouted after the fleeing Republican with questions about his plans.
Go figure.
More reading about this weekend's nonsense, if you're interested.
Michael Tomasky
Jeet Heer
Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling
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