Democratic opposition to Senate deal runs party's ideological gamut

WASHINGTON — Democrats from across the political spectrum expressed opposition to a Senate deal to end the longest partial government shutdown, less than a week after the party was celebrating major election victories.

A handful of candidates also criticized Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, even though he opposed the agreement, with some calling for him to step down from his leadership role.

Under the terms of the deal, the Senate would extend current funding levels through Jan. 30 and advance three full-year spending bills covering the Veterans Affairs and Agriculture departments, as well as legislative operations. The agreement would also reverse the layoffs of thousands of federal workers since Oct. 1, when the shutdown began, and would ensure that federal workers who were furloughed or who have been working without pay would receive back pay.

But the package doesn’t directly include anything to address Democrats’ top demand to end the shutdown: the extension of enhanced premium tax credits that are set to expire at the end of the year, hiking health insurance rates for plans sold on the federal exchanges.

Senate Republicans have committed to schedule a vote on legislation to renew the tax credits before the end of next month — but most Democrats, both progressives and centrists, say that’s not enough to win their support.

“With health care votes ahead, the question is whether Republicans in Congress will join us to prevent catastrophic increases in health insurance premiums,” Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, the chamber’s most vulnerable Democrat up for reelection next year, said in a statement.

Ossoff was not among the eight members of the Senate Democratic Caucus who joined with all but one Republican on a procedural vote Sunday night to move closer to ending the shutdown. Those eight lawmakers included Sens. Jon Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and Angus King of Maine, who have consistently voted to reopen the government since Oct. 1; as well as Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Tim Kaine of Virginia and Richard J. Durbin of Illinois. None of the eight is up for reelection in 2026, while Durbin and Shaheen are both retiring.

Ossoff’s “no” vote drew swift criticism from Republicans.

“Jon Ossoff should be ashamed for putting his radical left base and illegal aliens above Georgia military families,” Nick Puglia, a regional press secretary for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said in a statement.

But Democratic critics of the plan drew cover from a range of ideological groups on the left.

“For the last 40 days — and for the first time in the Trump presidency — Democrats have driven the debate and put Republicans on their heels. All factions of the party were unified around defending the Affordable Care Act,” Jon Cowan, the president of the center-left think tank Third Way, said in a statement. “This was a battle worth fighting, and it was worth fighting longer.”

Maurice Mitchell, the national director of the progressive Working Families Party, called it a “bad deal.”

“(Especially) after voters turned out in record numbers last week to elect Democrats on the promise that they would stand up and fight for working families,” he said while calling on the House to reject the measure.

It’s not clear whether any House Democrats will support the package if it comes up in the chamber, although Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat who represents a district that Donald Trump carried last year, said the Senate agreement was a sign of real progress.

“It’s past time to put country over party and get our government working again for the American people,” Cuellar said on social media.

In key states, candidates break from incumbents

In some of the states represented by the eight senators who voted with Republicans on Sunday night, several Democratic candidates explained their opposition to the deal by pointing to the lack of legislative language on the health insurance subsidies and of a guarantee that the GOP-controlled House would hold such a vote.

In New Hampshire, Rep. Chris Pappas, who is running to succeed Shaheen, said the deal wouldn’t “prevent a massive increase in health insurance costs for families and small businesses.”

“I’ll keep fighting to get legislation to the House floor that will extend premium tax credits, but just hoping Speaker (Mike) Johnson will do the right thing isn’t good enough for New Hampshire,” he said.

Pappas, a member of the center-left New Democrat Coalition, last week introduced a measure to extend the open enrollment period for the federal exchanges set up under the Affordable Care Act to May 1, saying people needed more time and flexibility to sign up for coverage, given the confusion.

Former Sen. John E. Sununu, one of the Republicans running for New Hampshire’s open seat, said Pappas is “proving that he would be a partisan pawn if elected to the Senate.”

“Instead of voting to reopen the federal government as part of bipartisan legislation agreed to by both of New Hampshire’s current Democratic Senators, Chris Pappas is siding with the extreme Far Left in an effort to keep the federal government closed,” Sununu said in a statement.

Democrat Stefany Shaheen, who is running for Pappas’ open 1st District seat, said she couldn’t support the deal — which her mother helped craft in the Senate.

“Improving health care has been the cause of my life,” the former Portsmouth City councilwoman said in a statement. “We need to both end this shutdown and extend the ACA tax credits. Otherwise, no deal.”

Marine veteran Maura Sullivan, a Democrat who is also running in the 1st District, also opposes the plan, saying on social media, “Reopening the government can’t come at the cost of people’s access to the care they need.”

In Illinois, the three main Democrats looking to succeed Durbin all said they opposed the pact that the No. 2 Senate Democrat voted for.

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi said not extending the health insurance subsidies would only “aggravate the situation,” while fellow Rep. Robin Kelly said the deal “abandons millions who rely on ACA credits for affordable healthcare.” Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton said in a statement that the pain felt by those affected by the shutdown “will be compounded exponentially because Democrats let the GOP off the hook.”

Krishnamoorthi and Kelly are both poised to vote on the bill if it comes up in the House as soon as this week.

Some call on Schumer to step down

News of the Senate deal led to fresh calls from some Democrats for Schumer to step down as the party leader in the chamber, despite him opposing the deal.

“Chuck Schumer is not built for this moment,” said Graham Platner, a Democrat running for Senate in Maine. His top primary opponent, Gov. Janet Mills, is the preferred candidate of national Democrats.

Iowa state Sen. Zach Wahls, who is running for the state’s open Senate seat, said it was time for Schumer to “make way for a new generation of leaders who are willing to fight for what this party believes in.”

“Sen. Schumer has not met this moment for my state or for our country,” Wahls said in a video on social media.

Marine and Army veteran Nathan Sage, another Iowa Democrat running for Senate, said the deal was “shameful.”

“I’m not going to mince my words: piss poor leadership from Chuck Schumer caused this. It’s long past time for him to get out of the way and step down as leader,” he said in a statement.

The progressive group Our Revolution, which has ties to Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, called for the New York Democrat to step down as leader “immediately.”

Schumer, who angered many base Democrats in March after he voted to advance a stopgap bill to avert a government shutdown, said Monday on the Senate floor that the public had “awoken to Trump’s health care crisis.”

“Health care is once again at the forefront of people’s minds,” he said. “Republicans now own this health care crisis.”