Snapshot: Snatching Defeat From the Jaws of Victory

Eight Senate Democrats chose to surrender by joining the Trump Republicans and end the government shutdown

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was voting against reopening the government, but he failed to corral eight other senators who have chosen to surrender and side with the Republicans. (Photo by Tom Brenner via Getty Images)

After over nine months of Trump and his regime inflicting extreme pain and abuse on the country each and every day, eight Senate Democrats decided last night to remove one actual moment of leverage, surrender to the Republicans and end the government shutdown. This came less than one week after a Democratic electoral blowout, an event that has genuinely given Americans momentum and hope that it’s possible to harness our anger and act with solidarity to successfully fight back against this hateful regime.

The Democrats were winning the battle, making it clear that securing healthcare subsidies to protect tens of millions of Americans struggling to pay for health insurance is worth fighting for. They may have dropped their demand to restore Medicaid funding in the standoff, but healthcare support was a message that Americans grasped and supported in growing numbers.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has promised to bring up a standalone vote on the subsidies next month after the government is reopened. But that empty promise doesn’t mean the Republican-majority Senate will take such a vote seriously or that Mike Johnson’s House will ever bring up a vote.

If you’re a federal worker who lost your job during the shutdown or an air traveler hoping to see your family in time for the holidays, the vote to reopen the government and rehire some federal workers may be a reason for gratitude. So is the ostensible agreement to extend SNAP food assistance for the next year.

But in our ongoing struggle to confront a corrupt and criminal regime that relishes cruelty, ignores the needs of everyday Americans and prioritizes the desires of the richest Americans—particularly by endangering the lives of millions who will no longer be able to afford health coverage—this capitulation is a sad dereliction of duty.

And just in case you wondered what new horrors would the White House occupant immunized by John Roberts’ Supreme Court supermajority, he didn’t waste any time. After midnight he gave a full pardon to Rudy Giuliani and several other accomplices who worked aggressively to overthrow a democratically elected president and lied repeatedly that Trump won the 2020 election and that it was fraudulently stolen from him.

Below are the eight senators who sided with the Republicans to end the shutdown and their phone numbers, in case you’d like to let them know what you think.

The work continues for all of us who believe in democratic government that actually serves the interests of the majority. We must continue to speak out.

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Sen. Dick Durbin (D–IL) (202) 224-2152

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D–NV) (202) 224-3542

Sen. John Fetterman (D–PA) (202) 224-4254

Sen. Tim Kaine (D–VA) (202) 224-4024

Sen. Angus King (I–ME) (202) 224-5344

Sen. Jacky Rosen (D–NV) (202) 224-6244

Sen. Maggie Hassan (D–NH) — (202) 224-3324

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) — (202) 224-2841

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