Senate Democrats ended their workday Tuesday agonizing over what to do about the record-setting government shutdown. Many of those same lawmakers woke up Wednesday morning ready to fight on.
The sweeping Democratic gains in this week’s elections bolstered the faction in the party insisting that senators dig in and force Republicans to accede to their demand for an extension of key health insurance subsidies used by more than 20 million Americans.
While a group of Democratic senators continued to negotiate with Republicans, the pressure that mounted on and off Capitol Hill Wednesday threatened to push the 36-day shutdown even further into record-setting territory.
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said ending the shutdown without a commitment from President Donald Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson would “be a betrayal of all we’ve been fighting to uphold.”
“We are winning the hearts and minds of the American people,” Blumenthal said. “We’ve come this far and the American people seem to be with us.”
Blumenthal was part of a group of progressive senators, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who had a lengthy huddle on the floor Wednesday.
Sanders said that accepting a “meaningless vote” would be a “horrible policy decision” — an implicit critique of the deal some more moderate Senate Democrats are now discussing with Republicans. That agreement would not itself extend Obamacare insurance subsidies but instead guarantee a future vote on them
“Some of you may have heard the expression, when we fight, we win. You ever hear that? Well, when you cave, you lose,” added Sanders, who crashed a news conference called by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to make his case again to reporters while they waited for Schumer’s arrival.
The bipartisan talks among rank-and-file senators continued, however. Several Democrats involved said they continued to make progress with their talks Wednesday, even as their party colleagues stiffened their spines for a longer fight.
Some believe they could finalize an agreement in a matter of days that would reopen the government through at least December and tee up votes on full-year funding for veterans, agriculture and nutrition programs and for Congress itself.
Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), who is part of the negotiating group, said the results of the election didn’t affect the talks. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), a key negotiator, called the results of the election “great” but added that discussions were moving forward.
But while those senators and their Republican negotiating partners might be moving closer together, they are moving farther apart from many of their own Democratic colleagues.
One Senate Democratic aide granted anonymity to discuss caucus deliberations said there is “enormous” pressure on the group to hold the line after Tuesday: “It’s hard for anyone to argue the message from voters is ‘Please cave ASAP to Trump.’”
The Democrats involved in the talks received no cover from senior leaders of their party Wednesday.
Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries demanded a new meeting Wednesday with Trump to discuss ending the shutdown and addressing health care, which has emerged as the centerpiece of the weeks-long spending brawl.
Schumer made no secret Wednesday that he believes his party now has the political winds at its back. He declared from the floor that a Senate Democratic majority is closer than people think and then hammered Trump and Republicans for not coming to the negotiating table.
“Maybe this election is a wake up call — to them,” he told reporters.
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), who is in line to become the No. 2 Democratic leader starting in 2027, echoed Schumer’s message that the election shows Republicans need to negotiate. Schatz, like Schumer, was among the small group of Democrats who helped advance a GOP-written funding stopgap to avoid a shutdown in March, sparking fierce criticism from the party’s base.
“I look forward to the moment that he realizes that the only way [to end the shutdown] is to talk to Democrats,” Schatz said of Trump. “If he wants out, is he willing to do what every president has done for decades, which is talk to the other party?”
Jeffries indirectly urged senators not to fold by complimenting his counterpart across the Capitol at a news conference.
“Senate Democrats have shown great leadership — led by Chuck Schumer — that we will not support a partisan spending bill that continues to gut the health care of the American people,” Jeffries said.
Later, on a call with his members, he said he would “continue to urge the Senate to stay the course and hold the line,” according to three people granted anonymity to describe the private conversation.
Off Capitol Hill, progressive advocacy groups and Democratic Senate candidates on Wednesday ratcheted up pressure on senators to keep holding the line after the ballot-box blowout.
Republicans “got their asses kicked last night,” said Brad Woodhouse, the executive director of the liberal health care advocacy group Protect Our Care. “Democrats should not turn around on one of the predominant issues that animated last night’s election and compromise with Republicans. It’s just anathema to political thinking.”
Democrats who made lowering health care costs a centerpiece of their campaigns demolished their opponents in Virginia and New Jersey’s gubernatorial contests by double digits. Trump, in response to Democrats’ overperformance, said the shutdown was partly to blame and urged Republican senators to change Senate rules and reopen the government on party lines.
Democratic Senate candidates — including several House members — also urged Schumer and his caucus not to settle. Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, who’s running to succeed retiring Sen. Dick Durbin, said voters “have given Democrats a mandate to stand firm.
“Absolutely this is not a time to cave,” Abdul El-Sayed, a Democrat who’s running to succeed Peters in Michigan, said in an interview. “It’s so obvious that Trump is losing in the court of public opinion.”
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