On the heels of a historic 43-day government shutdown, Democrats are facing tough questions about whether the record-breaking standoff was worth it, and whether Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer gave up too soon.
After failing to secure the healthcare subsidies they demanded, and with several senators breaking ranks to join Republicans in reopening the government — a move widely seen as a black eye on Schumer’s leadership — Senate Democrats continued to blame President Donald Trump and the GOP for the shutdown when pressed by Fox News Digital.
“I’m disappointed and angry that Republicans forced a false and impossible choice between healthcare insurance and reopening the government,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Wednesday. “They promised that there will be a vote on extending the healthcare subsidies. If they fail to provide that vote, or if the vote fails, they should be held accountable. They are to be blamed.”
Blumenthal charged that it was Republicans who “forced the false choice between reopening the government and affordable health insurance,” which he said has been “viewed reprehensibly by the American people, and rightly so.”
Like many of his Democratic colleagues, the Connecticut senator sidestepped a question about whether Schumer could have done more to hold the line on negotiations.
SENATE VOTE TO END GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN IGNITES DEMOCRAT CIVIL WAR
Seven Democratic senators, including one independent who caucuses with them, and six House Democrats voted to reopen the government last week, without extending the pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies that Democrats had pushed for since the shutdown began on Oct. 1.
The intraparty revolt has exposed a widening rift between Democratic leadership and its left flank, as progressive candidates accused Schumer of surrendering leverage to Republicans in exchange for a funding deal that left key healthcare priorities unresolved.
“We have federal workers across the country that have been missing paychecks. We have SNAP recipients, millions of SNAP recipients across the country whose access to food stability was imperiled, and we have to figure out what that was for,” Ocasio-Cortez said last week, before adding, “We cannot enable this kind of cruelty with our cowardice.”
Back on Capitol Hill this week, Democrats were less willing to blame Schumer for the Democrats who broke ranks, instead blaming Republicans for the ultimatum.
When asked if the shutdown was worth it, Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, told Fox News Digital that Democrats “should absolutely continue fighting for healthcare.”
And Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Del., said, “I don’t think you can look at a shutdown from that kind of perspective” of whether it was worth it.
“I think what’s absolutely clear is that Republicans now own this healthcare crisis,” McBride added. “Americans very clearly understand that it was Republicans who are stopping at nothing to prevent a vote on the Affordable Care Act tax credit, including having been willing to shut down the government.”
“I voted against reopening without having secured the changes to healthcare and addressing the healthcare-increase spikes. That remains the focus, that remains the work ahead of us still,” Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., said when pressed on the same question and without answering whether the government is headed for another shutdown.
Democrats who spoke to Fox News Digital said they hoped the government isn’t headed for another shutdown but maintained that the party should continue to fight for healthcare guarantees.
While the government reopened last week, the stopgap funding bill only keeps federal spending at current fiscal-year-2025 levels through Jan. 30 to give Congress more time to negotiate a longer-term appropriations package for fiscal year 2026. If Congress can’t reach a consensus, the government could be headed toward another shutdown.
As part of a backroom deal to reopen the government, Senate Democrats were promised a separate vote on extending healthcare subsidies.
“I certainly hope we’ll avoid another government shutdown, but, again, Republicans promised a vote on extending the healthcare tax credit subsidies. If they fail to provide that vote, or if the vote fails, they’ll be to blame. They’ll be held accountable,” Blumenthal said.
And Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said he was looking forward to Republicans having the opportunity to go on the record by voting on the healthcare guarantees this December.
As for whether the government is barreling toward another shutdown, Kelly said, “[You] gotta ask the President and the Republicans in the House and Senate.”
Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Kristen Gillibrand and Elissa Slotkin did not respond to Fox News Digital’s question about whether the shutdown was worth it, and their offices did not immediately respond to further inquiries.
When reached for comment, White House Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson flipped the script on the Democrats who placed blame on Republicans for the government shutdown.
“Democrats shut down the government and inflicted great pain on the American people because they wanted to use struggling families as ‘leverage’ for their far left agenda,” Jackson told Fox News Digital.
“President Trump defeated their absurd gambit and delivered yet another win to the American people, but it’s alarming that even after their ploy failed, Democrats still can’t admit their shutdown hurt the American people,” she added.
