In a stunning about-face, Senate Democrats have abandoned their efforts to force the government shutdown to last as long as possible, surrendering to Republicans in a deal that will reopen the government without making any significant concessions from the GOP or President Trump.
Despite polls showing more Americans blaming Trump than Democrats for the shutdown's impact, Democratic senators voted 8-0 with Republicans on Sunday to advance a deal that extends expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies – a demand they had made from the start. However, despite their best efforts, Democrats were unable to make any progress in negotiations with Trump and Republicans.
The reality is that Democrats never had a plausible strategy to win concessions from Trump and Republicans on their key demands, including an extension of ACA subsidies. The ultimatum strategy they chose – threatening to shut down the government unless their demands are met – was doomed to fail because it would have led to the GOP passing laws with Republican votes alone.
In reality, Senate Democrats were not united in supporting a deliberate strategy of forcing Republicans to abolish the filibuster as part of the shutdown deal. Rather, they settled on an ultimatum strategy that they hoped would please their base but ultimately proved self-defeating.
The decision to settle for a deal that includes no significant concessions from Trump or Republicans was likely driven by concerns about the growing hardship caused by the shutdown – including federal workers going without pay and SNAP beneficiaries losing benefits. Many Democrats may have felt that continuing to hold out would only increase suffering among ordinary Americans, and ultimately led them to cut their losses.
In retrospect, it's clear that Democrats never had a winning strategy in the shutdown fight. Rather than negotiating with Trump and Republicans, they chose to use an ultimatum – a tactic that is rarely effective in Congress because it can lead to a polarized fight in which one side caves while the other holds firm. The real choice facing Democrats was whether to cave or hold out until the GOP abolishes the filibuster – but even this option was unlikely to succeed given Trump's determination to maintain his tough-on-Twitter image and Republican opposition to eliminating the filibuster.
The shutdown deal that will reopen the government has sparked outrage among many on the left, who see it as a humiliating defeat for Democrats. However, the reality is that Senate Democrats were always playing with fire by choosing an ultimatum strategy in the first place – one that ultimately led them to cave and abandon their key demands without achieving anything significant from Trump or Republicans.
In short, Democrats' efforts to force the shutdown to last as long as possible have ended in defeat – but it's clear that they never had a plausible strategy to win concessions from Trump and Republicans on their key demands.
Despite polls showing more Americans blaming Trump than Democrats for the shutdown's impact, Democratic senators voted 8-0 with Republicans on Sunday to advance a deal that extends expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies – a demand they had made from the start. However, despite their best efforts, Democrats were unable to make any progress in negotiations with Trump and Republicans.
The reality is that Democrats never had a plausible strategy to win concessions from Trump and Republicans on their key demands, including an extension of ACA subsidies. The ultimatum strategy they chose – threatening to shut down the government unless their demands are met – was doomed to fail because it would have led to the GOP passing laws with Republican votes alone.
In reality, Senate Democrats were not united in supporting a deliberate strategy of forcing Republicans to abolish the filibuster as part of the shutdown deal. Rather, they settled on an ultimatum strategy that they hoped would please their base but ultimately proved self-defeating.
The decision to settle for a deal that includes no significant concessions from Trump or Republicans was likely driven by concerns about the growing hardship caused by the shutdown – including federal workers going without pay and SNAP beneficiaries losing benefits. Many Democrats may have felt that continuing to hold out would only increase suffering among ordinary Americans, and ultimately led them to cut their losses.
In retrospect, it's clear that Democrats never had a winning strategy in the shutdown fight. Rather than negotiating with Trump and Republicans, they chose to use an ultimatum – a tactic that is rarely effective in Congress because it can lead to a polarized fight in which one side caves while the other holds firm. The real choice facing Democrats was whether to cave or hold out until the GOP abolishes the filibuster – but even this option was unlikely to succeed given Trump's determination to maintain his tough-on-Twitter image and Republican opposition to eliminating the filibuster.
The shutdown deal that will reopen the government has sparked outrage among many on the left, who see it as a humiliating defeat for Democrats. However, the reality is that Senate Democrats were always playing with fire by choosing an ultimatum strategy in the first place – one that ultimately led them to cave and abandon their key demands without achieving anything significant from Trump or Republicans.
In short, Democrats' efforts to force the shutdown to last as long as possible have ended in defeat – but it's clear that they never had a plausible strategy to win concessions from Trump and Republicans on their key demands.
its like they knew they were gonna get rolled over from the start lol 8-0 with republicans is just embarrassing for them tbh anyway i feel bad for fed workers who lost pay because of this but it just goes to show that democrats didn't have a solid plan to back up their ultimatum strategy guess they just got outsmarted by trump and republicans 
Senate Dem's gotta think twice about ultimatum tactics... didn't work out 
Expiring ACA subsidies extension won't do much for the base, and now it looks like they just gave up 
Concerns about federal workers & SNAP beneficiaries losing benefits is real tho... government shutdown was super harsh on low-income fams 
i mean i love a good mystery and this show has me hooked from the start what's your take on the latest plot twist btw? 
also can we talk about how much i need to update my laptop it's been lagging for ages like, what even is that?
especially for those who lost benefits or are struggling financially because of it. it's like democrats were running out of options and didn't wanna risk making things worse 
. I'm not mad at them or anything, but it's just a shame they couldn't come to some sort of middle ground... maybe that would've saved everyone some stress 
The real question is, what's next? Are they just gonna sit back and let Republicans pass whatever they want without any pushback from the Democrats? That can't be good for anyone.
. I get that they were worried about people losing paychecks and stuff, but I thought they wanted to protect those benefits? 
. It seems like it would've been better for everyone if they'd just kept talking and found a compromise 
. But, I guess that's easier said than done when you're dealing with super polarized politics 
.
. The whole thing just feels like a big mess, right? It's like the Democrats were playing with fire, and in the end, they got burned 
. I get it, wanting to hold out for your demands is one thing, but ultimately, they had to think about the people who would be affected by the shutdown – federal workers and SNAP beneficiaries, for example 
. Anyway, it's clear that this deal isn't exactly what Democrats were hoping for 
, or SNAP beneficiaries who could be losing benefits. At the same time, I feel bad for those on the left who see this as a defeat for Democrats 
. Those polls showing more Americans blaming Trump than Democrats might suggest that it's not a total loss, though 
?
.
by playing it too safe and not being willing to take more risks... they knew polls showed most people were mad at Trump, so why not use that to get something? 
and now they're left with no concessions from either side. it's like they wanted to lose 
. i mean, who comes up with this stuff? threatening to shut down the gov if you don't get your way is like, super ineffective 
. and the sad thing is they were already at a disadvantage from the start... no way were they gonna make any concessions from trump or republicans. it's all about the politics 101 
It looks like Senate Dems were played by President Trump 
The ACA subsidies thingy is a big win for Republicans 
but not so much for Dems who are lookin at gettin roasted online 
Still, gotta give credit where credit's due – they did try to stand firm 
. I do think there's a lesson to be learned here about when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em - sometimes it's better to cut your losses rather than keep pushing for something that's never gonna happen