Senate Votes To End Shutdown, Democrats Catch Slander

On Sunday evening (November 9), the Senate voted in the first step towards ending the federal government shutdown, and Democrats have been feeling the brunt of the public’s disbelief. Seven senators, along with an independent senator, agreed to have the vote, and many expressed their anger and disappointment in social media posts once the news broke of the deal.

The vote was 60-40, with moderate Democrat Senators – Dick Durbin of Illinois, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Cathleen Cortez-Masto of New Mexico, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. Independent Senator Angus King of Maine joined with the Democrats in voting on the continuing resolution. 

They agreed to vote with Republicans on the funding package to reopen the government, securing a promise to vote on extending subsidies for the Affordable Care Act in December, which the GOP didn’t initially want. The subsidies reduce the costs for those enrolling, and if taken away, 4 million would lose health insurance, and 22 million more would see their premiums double.

The final version of the bill extends funding of the government to January 2026. The bill is expected to be passed in the GOP-majority House of Representatives, despite House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and the other Democrats saying they will all vote no on it. 

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Photo: Getty

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer was a “no” vote, but has been the prime source of scorn by the public, who felt that the eight votes by Democrats were a betrayal after their holding fast during the 41 days of the shutdown. Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont called the concession “an empty gesture.” Paul Thompson ripped Schumer’s tendency to issue dry motivational social media posts in his own post on BlueSky.

The public’s frustration could be summed up in a post on X, formerly Twitter, by a user named Old Man Lefty: “We just had the most successful protests against a sitting president in history. We swept an off year election. Republicans were being blamed for the shutdown, and the ACA is damn near as popular as God. With all that momentum, why did 8 Democrats just punch us in the gut?”

In an interview with MSNBC’s Kris Jansing on Tuesday (November 11), Arizona Senator Mark Kelly signaled that discussions about replacing Schumer are indeed happening in the Senate.