Democrats rebel after 8 senators cut a deal to end the shutdown without ACA funds
WASHINGTON — Many Democrats are furious after a breakaway group of eight senators joined with Republicans to strike a deal to reopen the government without extending health care subsidies, abandoning the demand that led to the shutdown.
The deal, which cleared a major procedural hurdle Sunday night by a 60-40 vote, drew sharp criticism from congressional candidates, progressive activists and Democratic lawmakers. That includes some members with higher ambitions, who said it shows party leaders aren’t up to the task of mustering an effective opposition to President Donald Trump.
“This is a defining moment for the party. We need new faces with bold new ideas,” Rep. Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, who is considering a presidential run, told NBC News. “The American people are tired of a failed status quo. »
Although Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., criticized the deal and voted against it, some liberal groups and anti-establishment Democratic candidates pointed the finger at him for failing to keep his caucus unified against a deal that did not include Affordable Care Act funds. If the subsidies expire as scheduled at the end of 2025, more than 20 million Americans could face health insurance premium hikes.
Khanna called for Schumer to “be replaced.” Democratic Senate candidates including Mallory McMorrow of Michigan, Zach Wahls of Iowa and Graham Platner of Maine — all of whom have expressed skepticism or opposition to Schumer’s re-election as Senate leader — have demanded a shake-up of Senate leadership.
“Here in eastern Maine, doubling health care premiums is destroying families,” Platner said in a video posted on X. “We need to elect leaders who want to fight.”
Liberal criticism of Schumer intensified in March after he agreed to a six-month Republican bill to fund the government. Although he opposed the current deal, members of the Democratic caucus who signed it defended it.
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said Sunday night that the Senate deal represents “a victory” in that it gives Democrats “an opportunity” to expand the ACA tax credits now that Senate Republican leaders have agreed to hold a vote on the issue in December. (The House, however, made no such promise.)
“As of this morning,” he said, “our chances were zero. Tonight our chances are maybe 50 percent. I can’t guarantee a result. Nobody can.”
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Over the weekend, the progressive advocacy group Indivisible surveyed its members on whether they should accept a funding deal or continue to fight for ACA subsidies — and 98.67% responded that they would continue to fight, according to the group’s co-founder Ezra Levin.
“We were hoping that the Democratic Party could be convinced to fight back against the regime. We had the largest protests in history and the best election night in years. The public polls were with us. The GOP was fractured. Trump was worried. We were winning everywhere except the Democratic caucus,” Levin said via text message. “I am convinced that the time for advocacy is over and that the only thing that will move the Party is a primary cleanup season.”
The group previously called on Schumer to resign in March. Now, Levin said he would call on all Democratic Senate candidates to join calls to oust him as leader.
“We are launching our primary agenda today, and we will not support any candidate in the Senate primary who refuses to call on Schumer to step down from leadership,” he said. “More to come.”
Our Revolution, a left-wing political group that emerged from Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign, circulated a petition Monday afternoon that read, “Schumer must resign NOW!”
Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change campaign committee, joined calls Monday for his resignation. “We’ll cut to the chase: Chuck Schumer must resign as Senate Democratic Leader,” he wrote on his mailing list. “Chuck Schumer’s legacy is spelunking, not winning.”
Schumer, for his part, said Democrats gave Republicans “a chance to fix” the looming rise in health care costs, and that the Republican Party “wasted it.” He indicated that his party would take the fight to the polls.
“Americans will be reminded of Republican intransigence every time they pay outrageous sums for their health insurance,” Schumer said Monday on the Senate floor.
After the deal was reached Sunday night, a senior House Democrat sent NBC News a photo inside a church, saying, “In church I was praying for forgiveness for the thoughts I have and Senate Democrats.
Some of the anger also came from Senate Democrats.
“People were on our side. We were building momentum to help save our democracy. We could have won — notices of bonus increases were just starting,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, who donated to Indivisible, among other progressive advocacy groups. “And giving in now will encourage [Trump]. Things will probably get worse.
Sanders, I-Vt., said abandoning Democrats’ health care demands made “a horrible situation even worse.”
“I think it’s a terrible mistake,” added Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Mass.
But they have largely focused their anger on Democrats who caved, not Schumer, and on Republicans who obstructed negotiations over ACA funds.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., praised Schumer and most Senate Democrats for putting up “a valiant fight” in the current impasse, saying he had not spoken to the eight senators who supported the deal.
“I’m not going to explain what a handful of Democratic senators decided to do. This is the explanation they are offering to the American people,” he said. “What we are going to continue to do as Democrats in the House of Representatives, in partnership with our allies across America, is to take the fight, to stay in the Coliseum, to achieve victories in the arena on behalf of the American people. Regardless of the disappointments that may arise.”
Sherrod Brown, the former Democratic senator from Ohio who is seeking to return to his red state in 2026, called the Senate deal “a bad deal for Ohioans” that “does nothing to reduce the out-of-control costs people are facing.”
“This is a problem created by Jon Husted and his special interest friends,” he said of his Republican opponent.
Brown and Husted will face off next November in a key contest for the seat previously held by Vice President JD Vance.
Democrats who voted with Republicans to advance the deal were Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire; Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen of Nevada; Dick Durbin of Illinois; John Fetterman of Pennsylvania; Tim Kaine of Virginia; and King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats.
Shaheen, King and Hassan led the negotiations with the Republicans. Shaheen and Durbin are retiring at the end of the current term, freeing them from political pressures.
The Senate deal also created an unusual family dynamic. Stefany Shaheen, who is running in a crowded Democratic primary for an open House seat, said she opposes the Senate deal brokered by her mother because it doesn’t solve the ACA problem.
“Too many people will see health care costs, already too high, skyrocket starting in January,” the younger Shaheen said in a statement.
Asked about their disagreement, Jeanne Shaheen said Monday: “Well, I talk to my daughter regularly. She’s going to be a great member of Congress. She has her own opinions and she’s done a lot of work in health care.”
