SHUTDOWN UPDATE: Progressives Implode as Senate Democrats Cave

On day 41 of the longest government shutdown in history, it looks like an end date may finally be in sight.

Over the weekend, the Senate voted 60-40 to move forward with a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government through January 30. After weeks of stalemate, eight Senate Democrats broke with their party to move forward with reopening. While there are still several procedural hurdles to clear – including another vote in the House – it looks like the shutdown will likely be over as soon as Wednesday.

The development has thrown the Democrat Party into complete chaos as progressives are seething mad at the liberal senators who broke ranks – Catherine Cortez Masto (NV), Dick Durbin (IL), John Fetterman (PA), Maggie Hassan (NH), Tim Kaine (VA), Angus King (ME), Jackie Rosen (NV), and Jeanne Shaheen (NH). Left-wing groups have called for primary challenges against all eight Democrats, as well as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Although Schumer voted “No” on reopening the government, progressives nonetheless blame him for failing to hold the caucus together.

But as the shutdown has dragged on, it has become clear that Democrats’ strategy is not going to work. Democrats had effectively taken the government hostage, demanding that Republicans pass exorbitantly expensive Obamacare subsidies as a price for supporting an extension of the funding levels that they had voted for just a few months ago.

If Republicans had caved here, it would have set the dangerous precedent that the minority party – despite losing at the ballot box – can get policies passed by making demands when government funding is about to expire.

In exchange for the votes to reopen the government, Senate Republicans have agreed to hold a vote on extending the Obamacare subsidies in question sometime next month. However, any bill to extend the subsidies must meet the 60-vote threshold to pass the Senate and then pass through the House. House Speaker Mike Johnson has indicated that he would not bring a subsidy bill up for a vote. That could change if Republicans and Democrats can agree on some sort of compromise bill, but the odds of that happening in the next month appear low.

Ultimately, Democrats made the same mistake that they made back in March, the last time they voted to pass a CR. The most radical voices in the party insisted over and over that passing a CR would amount to a betrayal of the Democrat base and a total disaster moment. Progressive leaders in Congress promised their supporters that they would never allow passage of a CR, knowing full well that they could not deliver on this pledge. Schumer and the Democrat leadership allowed the party to be backed into a corner, setting themselves up to take the political hit.

But that hasn’t stopped the progressive rage from overflowing anyway. When asked, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) refused to say whether she believed Schumer had done a good job handling the situation. Multiple 2026 Democrat Senate candidates have called for Schumer to be replaced. House Democrats variously described the Senate vote as a “surrender,” “complete BS,” and “a total failure.”

The biggest loser of the whole debacle, however, is the American people. Democrats forced millions of people to lose SNAP benefits and other government services. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have had to work without pay for weeks. Thousands of travelers had their flights canceled due to air traffic controller staffing shortages. (AMAC members notably made their voices heard on the consequences of the shutdown, sending messages to their members of Congress urging them to reopen the government.)

Democrats described all of this suffering as “leverage” for the party, unintentionally giving away the corrupt game they were playing. The entire point of the charade was to inflict as much pain as possible, use the media to dishonestly blame Republicans, and take advantage of the whole debacle to ram through policies that voters rejected in November 2024.

To Republicans’ credit, they refused to submit to that cynical ploy. While it’s difficult to say that there is a real “winner” here, the GOP didn’t buckle. Given the circumstances, that might be the best outcome that the country could have hoped for.

Shane Harris is the Editor in Chief of AMAC Newsline. You can follow him on X @shaneharris513.