WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 30: Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) speaks at the Health Care Over Billionaires Rally at the US Capitol on September 30, 2025 in Washington, DC. The Senate is bracing for a government shutdown after they failed to pass the Republican Appropriations and Extensions Act which would provide a temporary extension on government funding. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Fair Share America) Tasos Katopodis via Getty Images
Democrats across the party’s ideological spectrum slammed an emerging deal to end the country’s largest government shutdown as a betrayal on Sunday night, arguing a deal cut by Senate moderates falls well short of the party’s goals and gives up political leverage.
Notably, the harshest critiques came from elected officials and candidates with little say in the deal and thus little to lose by criticizing it. The deal was negotiated by Sens. Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, along with Angus King of Maine. All of the Democrats who backed it are either retiring or not facing reelection until 2028, insulating them from political pressure.
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Some party officials also expressed frustration with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who personally voted against the deal even as seven members of his caucus broke ranks with the party.
The deal, which would end a shutdown now causing widespread flight delays and empowering President Donald Trump’s administration to put food aid at risk, would promise Democrats a future vote in the Senate on extending Obamacare subsidies ― a vote almost guaranteed to fail ― in exchange for reopening the government. It would also reverse government employee layoffs made during the shutdown and include the passage of a trio of bipartisan appropriations bills.
The haul seems paltry for the end of a 40-day shutdown that polls indicate most voters are blaming on Republicans and which party strategists have said has successfully raised the salience of health care, an issue where Democrats have major advantages over the GOP.
Notably, Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin made an extraordinary statement bashing a deal negotiated by members of the party. DNC leaders typically stay out of intra-party policy disputes.
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“As this vote moves to the House, I stand with Democratic leadership as they refuse to rubber stamp the full-scale Republican assault on Americans’ health care and I am proud of the majority of Senate Democrats who opposed this vote,” he said.
The number of Democrats willing to back up the seven senators who voted for the deal is low. Notably, Gov. Janet Mills (D-Maine) said she would not support a deal negotiated by Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats.
“Tens of thousands of Maine people are facing skyrocketing health care costs because of Donald Trump and Susan Collins,” Mills, who is the establishment pick to challenge GOP Sen. Susan Collins, wrote on social media. “Maine people deserve affordable health care — not just the promise of a vote that won’t go anywhere. Fight back.”
Graham Platner, the progressive oysterman who is Mills’ main competition for the nomination, was also adamantly opposed to the deal.
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“Senate Democrats need to hold the line. No healthcare, no deal,” Platner wrote on social media. “Mainers want a Democratic Party that fights for them, not one that rolls over. When we fight, we win.”
Progressives and moderates were also allied in the House, where House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is expected to try to unite his caucus against the deal. (One House Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, will almost certainly vote with the GOP.)
“A deal that doesn’t reduce health care costs is a betrayal of millions of Americans counting on Democrats to fight for them,” said Rep. Greg Cesar (D-Texas), the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. “Republicans want health care cuts. Accepting nothing but a pinky promise from Republicans isn’t a compromise — it’s capitulation. Millions of families would pay the price.”
Moderates agreed. Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) said he would have voted to end the shutdown if it delivered relief on health care, tariffs or ending Trump’s corruption. “Democrats must stop playing by the old rules in a broken Congress,” he wrote on social media. “If it comes to the House, I’m a No.”
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And it seems likely opposition to the deal will quickly become a major litmus test in a handful of major Senate primaries around the country.
“I’ve said it since the start of this shutdown — Republicans do not negotiate in good faith, and any deal that fails to protect healthcare is not a deal at all,” said Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, one of a handful of major candidates running to replace retiring Sen. Dick Durbin in Illinois. “For Democrats to cave now would be a complete betrayal of the American people.”
Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) and Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), three other Senate candidates, also said they opposed the deal.
Moulton, Iowa state Rep. Zach Wahls and other younger Democrats running for Senate also took aim at Schumer, the septuagenarian party leader whose approval ratings tanked after he voted to avoid a government shutdown fight in March.
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But many of the critiques of Schumer came from Democrats with no direct say in whether he remains in power.
“Senator Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced,” wrote Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), a potential 2028 presidential candidate. “If you can’t lead the fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for?”
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