California Gov. Gavin Newsom joined the chorus of Democrats slamming Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., over the deal to end the federal shutdown, calling it a “betrayal” and “capitulation.”
Newsom was reacting to the agreement late Sunday night to accept the deal that Republicans put on the table at the outset of the shutdown — a promise of a vote on the Obamacare subsidies.
Eight moderate Senate Democrats broke ranks and agreed to end the weeks-long government shutdown without securing any guarantee to preserve enhanced tax credits.
“Tonight’s Senate vote on the federal government shutdown should have been a time for strength. Instead we saw capitulation and a betrayal of working Americans. The American people need more from their leaders,” Newsom said in a post to X.
In an earlier post, Newsom called it a “surrender.”
Schumer voted against the bipartisan stopgap deal, but that didn’t spare him from a firestorm of criticism from liberals in both chambers, who blasted him as weak and ineffective.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., led the charge, declaring on X that Schumer is “no longer effective and should be replaced,” arguing that if he couldn’t stop looming premium hikes, he shouldn’t be leading Senate Democrats.
Two weeks into the shutdown, Schumer persuaded the moderates who were eager to reopen the government to hold the line until at least Nov. 1 — the start of open enrollment — Axios reported Monday.
From the outset, Schumer was aware that several Democrats were reluctant to engage in a shutdown fight. During a recent caucus meeting, one moderate reportedly said they never would have initiated the shutdown on their own but went along out of deference to Schumer and the caucus, according to the report.
The rebellion underscores a widening split inside the Democratic Party, with progressives demanding a shutdown-level fight to lock in Obamacare subsidies while moderates bowed to public pressure to reopen the government.
After 40 days of stalemate, Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; Jacky Rosen, D-Nev.; Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; Maggie Hassan, D-N.H.; and Tim Kaine, D-Va., joined John Fetterman, D-Pa., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Angus King, I-Maine, to move the legislation forward.
Fetterman, Masto, and King, who caucus with Democrats, had voted all along to pass the continuing resolution passed by House Republicans.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has been the sole GOP holdout on the CR.
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