The longest government shutdown in U.S. history ended on Nov. 12, with President Donald Trump signing a funding bill passed by Congress. Lasting 43 days, the shutdown created issues for many Americans, including federal workers missing paychecks, travelers missing flights, and those on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) missing benefits. While the government’s reopening has prompted many to breathe a sigh of relief, with frustrating flight reductions coming to an end on Nov. 17, the manner in which the shutdown began and ended speaks gravely to the fragile state of Democratic leadership and the party as a whole.
The shutdown started on Oct. 1 with the Senate failing to pass a House-approved funding bill, since federal agencies need appropriations from Congress to function. Senate Democrats contended that the proposed bill needed to include an extension on tax credits for health insurance, but Republicans didn’t budge.
Towards the start of the shutdown, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said, “Republicans are plunging America into a shutdown—rejecting bipartisan talks, pushing a partisan bill and risking America’s health care worst of all. They’ve got to sit down and negotiate with Democrats to come to a bill that both parties can support.”
This focus on the overwhelming healthcare crisis was not addressed by the legislation passed by the Senate on Nov. 10, but still garnered the support of nearly all the Republican senators and eight Democratic senators. .The eight Senate Democrats who joined the Republicans in passing the package were Dick Durbin (IL), Maggie Hassan (NH), Tim Kaine (VA), Jeanne Shaheen (NH), Catherine Cortez Masto (NV), John Fetterman (PA), Jacky Rosen (NV) and Angus King (ME), an independent who caucuses with Democrats. Rand Paul (KY) was the only Republican holdout.
These senators each attempted to justify their decision to support the legislation in different ways, with Senator Shaheen saying, “This was the only deal on the table. It was our best chance to reopen the government and immediately begin negotiations to extend the ACA tax credits that tens of millions of Americans rely on to keep costs down.”
After gaining the Senate’s approval, the House passed the bill with a vote of 222 to 209, with only two House Republicans—Thomas Massie (KY) and Greg Steube (FL)—voting no. Six House Democrats joined the Republican majority in approving the bill: Jared Golden (ME), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA), Henry Cuellar (TX), Adam Gray (CA), Don Davis (NC), and Tom Suozzi (NY). The approved bill includes the extension of spending levels for the government agencies and programs like SNAP, a reversal of layoffs by the Trump administration during the shutdown, backpay for federal workers, and protections against future layoffs.
The impetus for the shutdown and Democrats’ stand against the administration, addressing the healthcare crisis and increasing unaffordability, was not included in the bill. What was achieved was a promise by Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to hold a vote in December on the healthcare subsidies that Democrats wanted to extend.
Democrats who refused to vote on the deal were understandably dissatisfied with the outcome. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) said about Thune’s gesture, “A handshake deal with my Republican colleagues to reopen the government and no guarantee to actually lower costs is simply not good enough. The people I work for need more than that. They need health care that they can afford, not a symbolic vote.”
Baldwin’s statement speaks greatly to the widespread frustration with Democrats’ reliance on symbolic and hollow wins in the face of an authoritarian administration. U.S. Representative Hakeem Jeffries’ (D-NY) filibuster was a somewhat impressive moment as the longest in history, but what did it achieve as a substantive challenge to the Trump administration’s goals? It slightly delayed Trump’s tax and spending cut bill and served as a symbolic victory, but it largely did not impose a true roadblock to Trump’s goals.
Similarly, this 43-day shutdown was not a demonstration of Democratic resilience but a display of the party’s fragility and inability to stand united against a common threat. Substantive and tangible contestations are necessary to even begin the halting of democratic backsliding, and these half-baked attempts by the Democrats only provide brief illusions of strength before the reality of their feebleness emboldens Republican efforts to further undermine their challenges.
Student of Political Science, fan of Severance, lover of the Slushynoobz
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