{"id":45007,"date":"2025-11-10T12:05:43","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T20:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=45007"},"modified":"2025-11-10T12:05:44","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T20:05:44","slug":"absolutely-pathetic-senate-democrats-denounced-for-caving-to-gop-in-shutdown-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/11\/10\/absolutely-pathetic-senate-democrats-denounced-for-caving-to-gop-in-shutdown-fight\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Absolutely Pathetic\u2019: Senate Democrats Denounced for Caving to GOP in Shutdown Fight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Post-Funding<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Senator Angus King (I-Maine) speaks at a press conference with other Senate Democrats who caved to Republicans in Washington, DC on November 9, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo by Nathan Posner\/Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet\u2019s be clear \u2014 this proposal isn\u2019t a compromise, it\u2019s a capitulation,\u201d said one progressive lawmaker in the US House.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jon Queally<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nov 10, 2025 (CommonDreams.org)<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fury on the progressive left and among lawmakers who opposed such \u201ccapitulation\u201d to the Republican Party<\/a> erupted overnight after a handful of Senate Democrats joined with their GOP<\/a> counterparts in a procedural vote on Sunday night to end the government shutdown without gaining any meaningful concessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the support<\/a> of eight members of the Democratic caucus\u2014Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada<\/a>, Dick Durbin<\/a> of Illinois<\/a>, John Fetterman<\/a> of Pennsylvania<\/a>, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire<\/a>, Tim Kaine of Virginia<\/a>, Angus King of Maine<\/a>, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire\u2014Republicans 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<\/a> premiums unleashed due to the GOP spending bill passed earlier this year and signed into law by President Donald Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sen.<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Progressives Tell Dems Thinking of Capitulating to GOP on Shutdown: \u2018You Cave, You Lose\u2019<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Chuck<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Nonstarter\u2019: Senate GOP Rejects New Dem Deal to End Government Shutdown<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is thoroughly disappointing that, while most Americans overwhelmingly oppose Republicans\u2019 horrific budget<\/a>, support the fight to curtail Trump\u2019s authoritarianism<\/a>, 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,\u201d said Lisa Gilbert, co-director of the progressive watchdog group Public Citizen<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a> funding, fails to curb Trump rescissions that have devastated government agencies and programs, and does nothing to address Affordable Care Act<\/a> subsidies other than a \u201cmeaningless<\/a>\u201d promised vote to extend them within 40 days\u2014a vote nearly sure to fail in the Senate and likely not even taken up in the US House<\/a>, controlled by Republicans<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat the election showed is that the American people want us to stand up to Trumpism\u2014to his war against working people, to his authoritarianism. That is what people wanted, but tonight that is not what happened.\u201d \u2014Sen. Bernie Sanders<\/a> (I-Vt.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow absolutely pathetic,\u201d declared<\/a> the Justice Democrats, an advocacy group that focuses on assisting progressive challengers willing to take on more establishment lawmakers in office. \u201cYour voters expect you to hold the line for their basic healthcare and food<\/a> 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet\u2019s be clear \u2014 this proposal isn\u2019t a compromise, it\u2019s a capitulation,\u201d said Rep. Jonathan L. Jackson (D-Ill.). \u201cMillions 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/embed.bsky.app\/embed\/did:plc:ryjmqqquvltpslijw3zl4fln\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3m5alad4m5k22?id=27471862754963083&ref_url=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.commondreams.org%252Fnews%252Fdemocrats-cave-on-government-shutdown&colorMode=system<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Gilbert, the shutdown exhibited exactly \u201chow 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<\/a> against millions more of our most vulnerable people, all so that they can bully through a budget that\u2019s catapulting us towards a dystopian future of stark inequality<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the shutdown may come to an end this week, Gilbert said it remains imperative that \u201ceveryone who cares about the well-being of Americans to use all the leverage they have to push back on Trump\u2019s authoritarianism and his cannibalizing of the basic needs of Americans for the benefit of his corporate donors and billionaire friends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Bernie Sanders<\/a> (I-Vt.), who, like Sen. King of Maine, caucuses with the Democrats, called it a \u201cvery bad night\u201d as he condemned the eight members of the caucus for making a \u201cvery, very bad vote\u201d at a time when the political winds and the moral argument were clearly on the side of holding the line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat it does, first of all,\u201d said Sanders in a statement following the vote, \u201cis it raises healthcare premiums for over 20 million Americans by doubling, and in some cases tripling or quadrupling. People can\u2019t 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,\u201d citing a statistic that indicates over 50,000 people \u201cwill die unnecessarily each year\u201d due to lack of adequate healthcare coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll of that was done,\u201d continued Sanders, \u201cto give a $1 trillion in tax breaks to the top 1%.\u201d In a political context, Sanders noted that last week\u2019s 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<\/a> and his allies in Congress<\/a>, rather than give in to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat the election showed is that the American people want us to stand up to Trumpism\u2014to his war against working people, to his authoritarianism,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is what people wanted, but tonight that is not what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAmericans have endured the pain of the longest government shutdown in history for a \u2018deal\u2019 that guarantees nothing on healthcare,\u201d said Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.). \u201cIf Republicans wanted to vote to extend subsidies, they would\u2019ve done it already. Capitulating is unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat Senate Dems who voted for this horseshit deal did was fuck over all the hard work people put in to Tuesday\u2019s elections.\u201d \u2014Rep. Mark Pocan<\/a> (D-Wis.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Chuck Schumer<\/a>, the Senate Minority Leader, voted \u201cno\u201d on the deal. Still, it\u2019s widely understood he was the driving force behind putting the agreement together and privately supported the eight lawmakers\u2014none of whom are facing reelection in 2026\u2014to cross over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSchumer voting \u2018no\u2019 for a shutdown deal he facilitated every step of the way,\u201d noted<\/a> journalist Ken Klippenstein. \u201cJust trying to keep his hands clean. Don\u2019t fall for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the wake of the vote, others called for Schumer to resign or be primaried for capitulating to deliver practically nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/x.com\/MarkPocan\/status\/1987758644704747654?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1987758644704747654%7Ctwgr%5Ef6442716a2840a8450275b6f28159c43a02922c4%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fdemocrats-cave-on-government-shutdown<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The surrender by Democrats in the Senate facilitated by Schumer,\u00a0opined<\/a>\u00a0journalist Krystal Ball, \u201cperfectly 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jon Queally<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jon Queally is managing editor of Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senator Angus King (I-Maine) speaks at a press conference with other Senate Democrats who caved to Republicans in Washington, DC on November 9, 2025. \u00a0(Photo by Nathan Posner\/Anadolu via Getty Images) \u201cLet\u2019s be clear \u2014 this proposal isn\u2019t a compromise, it\u2019s a capitulation,\u201d said one progressive lawmaker in the US… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45007"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45007"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45008,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45007\/revisions\/45008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}