Democratic senators under fire explain why they supported GOP bill to end shutdown

By Thérèse Boudreaux | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – After breaking from the rest of the Democratic Caucus to help Republicans advance a deal that would end the government shutdown, the eight U.S. senators who did so are now speaking out.

After 40 days of continuously filibustering Republicans’ Continuing Resolution to reopen the government, Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; Maggie Hassan, D-N.H.; Tim Kaine, D-Va.; Jacky Rosen, D-Nev.; and Dick Durbin, D-Ill; joined Republicans and Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa.; Angus King, I-Maine; and Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.; to advance an updated version of the bill.

Republican leaders’ final funding deal, offered Sunday night, modifies the CR to extend the original end-date. It would keep the government funded and functioning until Jan. 30 so that Congress can finish the regular appropriations process and provide fresh funds for fiscal year 2026.

They also tacked on the Senate-passed bipartisan minibus, consisting of three of the 12 appropriations bills. The minibus would provide full-year funds for Military Construction and Veterans Affairs; the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture; and the Legislative branch.

That means the funding deal would guarantee that SNAP; WIC; and the salaries of air traffic controllers, capitol police, and military service members are funded for the rest of the fiscal year.

But the deal’s major draw to Democrats was its promise to reverse the Trump administration’s mass layoffs of federal workers during the shutdown, prevent further layoffs while the CR is in effect, and hold a Senate vote on extending the enhanced Obamacare Premium Tax Credit.

“I have long said that to earn my vote, we need to be on a path toward fixing Republicans’ health care mess and to protect the federal workforce. This deal guarantees a vote to extend Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, which Republicans weren’t willing to do,” Kaine said after his vote.

The eight senators’ split infuriated the rest of the Democratic Caucus, who had dragged out the government funding fight over demands that Republicans guarantee an extension of the enhanced Obamacare subsidies. The promise of a vote, they noted, was not a promise that the extension would succeed.

“The people were on our side. We were building momentum to help save our democracy,” Sen. Chirs Murphy, D-Conn., lamented on X Monday. “We could have won – the premium increase notices were just starting.”

Durbin and the others disagreed, noting that the strategy had only led to the longest government shutdown in American history.

“Many of my friends are unhappy. They think we should have kept our government closed indefinitely to protest the policies of the Trump administration,” Durbin said Monday. “I share their opinions of this administration, but cannot accept a strategy which wages political battle at the expense of my neighbor’s paycheck or the food for his children.”

The Senate still needs to hold a vote on final passage of the CR-minibus package before sending it to the House for approval.