Some Democrats, skeptical of their leadership’s tough stance against reopening the federal government in private, admit they fear their liberal base will be “beaten” if they vote for the Republican funding bill.
Grassroots Democrats, frustrated by the Trump administration, demanded a fightback, and on Saturday, millions of people took part in No Kings demonstrations across the country to protest the president’s administration.
Under these circumstances, Democrats know that if they don’t get something for opening the government, they will be hit hard by a lot of leftist votes.
“People are going to get hammered” if they vote for a House-passed bill to reopen the government and keep it funded until Nov. 21, said one Democratic senator, who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak about his party.
A second person familiar with the political dynamics of the Senate Democratic caucus who spoke to The Hill ahead of the No Kings protests said centrist senators are afraid to cut off leaders and party activists are planning anti-Trump rallies.
“We would have enough votes” to reopen the government “if people weren’t afraid of getting guillotined,” the second person said.
Only three members of the Democratic caucus voted to reopen the government: Sens. John Fetterman (Pa.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.) and Angus King (Maine), an independent who is running with the Democrats.
On Thursday, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (NH) became the fourth Democrat to express concern over strong party opposition to what in normal times would be relatively uncontroversial, voting Thursday in favor of the $852 billion. defense funding bill.
Liberal activists called the vote to fund the Defense Department and reopen the government without Republican concessions on health care “misguided” and a “mistake.”
“Sens. Shaheen, Cortez Masto and Fetterman voting with Republicans today is puzzling,” said Andrew O’Neill, national advocacy director for the progressive group Indivisible.
“This was not a good-faith effort by Republicans to end the shutdown through bipartisan negotiations,” he added. “It was GOP political theater, and these three Democrats joined right in.”
Fetterman rejected those criticisms and defended his vote for the defense spending bill as motivated by concern for military families who may have to rely on food banks if they stop receiving paychecks.
“I voted yes to pay our service members. These are service members, not the party. I’m not confused by that,” he said.
All of this is music to the ears of Republicans who want centrist Democrats to feel the pain.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R.D.) plans to continue to vote on the House’s continuing resolution, hoping to get at least five more Democratic votes to reopen the government.
Democratic senators acknowledge that a handful of their colleagues would like to end a tense standoff over federal funding, but they say those members worry that a liberal backlash could end their political careers.
“Are there enough Democrats to join the Republicans and reopen the government? Not anytime soon,” said the Democratic senator, who requested anonymity. “There is no two-way conversation that is nothing but bull.
The senator said his centrist Democratic colleagues would vote to reopen the government “yesterday” if left to their own devices, but did not want to risk an angry backlash from the base.
Emma Lydon, CEO of P Street, a sister organization to the Campaign Committee for Progressive Change for Government, said Democrats voting for the short-term funding bill that passed the House are making a “mistake.”
She said a vote to reopen the government when millions of Americans are predicted to lose health insurance because of rising premiums “would not be in line with what the American people want.”
“Republicans are trying to dismantle the ACA brick by brick,” she said, referring to the Affordable Care Act.
Lydon said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and nine other Senate Democrats made a “mistake” when they voted in favor of a government funding bill passed by the partisan House in March to avoid a shutdown.
“They’ve been clear that the American people don’t want to see a Democratic Party that capitulates to Republican extremism. They want a party that protects people’s health care, protects our democracy, and that’s what they’re doing now,” she said.
Democratic strategists say the main cause of political fear in the Democratic caucus is online fundraising, fueled largely by social media.
Sources familiar with the political motivations behind the Senate Democrats’ shutdown position point to Sen. Jon Ossoff (Ga.), the Senate’s most vulnerable Democrat up for re-election in 2026, as an example of the Democrats’ dilemma.
One Democratic insider said Ossoff, who represents a swing state that is up for election in 2024. voted for President Trump, must raise money from the liberal base to win.
“His calculation is, ‘Do I vote to open the government and be broke and can’t raise a dollar of small change, or do I vote to shut down the government and get $3 million?’ [from online fundraising]?” – argued the source.
Ossoff has voted against funding legislation passed by the House 10 times, and on Thursday voted against a bipartisan bill to defund the Defense Department.
The first-term Democratic senator said he was always willing to work elsewhere to fix the issues and blamed House Republicans for adjourning since late September to avoid potential negotiations over rising health care costs.
“We need a bipartisan solution that prevents health insurance premiums from doubling and reopens the government. My constituents don’t want to see health care costs increase by thousands of dollars, and they want to keep the federal government open,” he told The Hill magazine earlier this month.
Democrats said they opposed the defense appropriations bill because Republicans could not assure them it would pass alongside the Labor and Health and Human Services appropriations bill, which funds many of their non-defense priorities.
But some centrist Democrats are growing impatient with the impasse as they are forced to re-vote on a clean House continuing resolution before leaders of the two parties have even met yet to address rising health care costs.
“I don’t think management is talking to each other, and I don’t see how we’re going to come to an agreement unless the people in charge decide they’re going to sit down and negotiate,” Shaheen said. “Ordinary people talk a lot. It would be good if our leaders talked too.”
A source familiar with internal Democratic caucus dynamics said Shaheen’s vote for the defense bill on Thursday signaled to fellow Republicans that she was ready to reach a deal to reopen the government, even though she voted 10 times against the House continuing resolution.
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