Democrats Face Backlash After Historic Government Shutdown Ends

Thu Nov 13 2025 14:56:07 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

The longest government shutdown in U.S. history concludes, leaving Senate Democrats feeling bruised and politically vulnerable after failing to secure substantive concessions in the deal.

After 43 days of unprecedented government shutdown, federal services are set to resume but Senate Democrats are left disappointed and divided. Their refusal to support a Republican measure for temporary funding has spawned criticism, and the party is grappling with internal dissent as they reassess their strategies heading into future legislative battles.

After 43 days, the longest US government shutdown in history is coming to an end.

Federal workers will start receiving pay again. National Parks will reopen. Government services that had been curtailed or suspended entirely will resume. Air travel, which had become a nightmare for many Americans, will return to being merely frustrating.

After the dust settles and the ink from President Donald Trump's signature on the funding bill dries, what has this record-setting shutdown accomplished? And what has it cost?

Senate Democrats, through their use of the parliamentary filibuster, were able to trigger the shutdown despite being a minority in the chamber by refusing to go along with a Republican measure to temporarily fund the government.

They drew a line in the sand, demanding that the Republicans agree to extend health insurance subsidies for low-income Americans that are set to expire at the end of the year.

When a handful of Democrats broke ranks to vote to reopen the government on Sunday, they received next to nothing in return – a promise of a vote in the Senate on the subsidies, but no guarantees of Republican support or even a necessary vote in the House of Representatives.

Since then, members of the party's left flank have been furious. They've accused Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer – who didn't vote for the funding bill – of being secretly complicit in the reopening plan or simply incompetent. They've felt like their party folded even after off-year election success showed they had the upper hand. They feared that the shutdown sacrifices had been for nothing.

Even more mainstream Democrats, like California's Governor Gavin Newsom, called the shutdown deal pathetic and a surrender.

With the end of the shutdown, Congress will get back to its regularly scheduled programming. Although the House of Representatives has effectively been on ice for more than a month, Republicans still hope they can pass some substantive legislation before next year's election cycle kicks in.

While several government departments will be funded until September in the shutdown-ending agreement, Congress will have to approve spending for the rest of the government by the end of January to avoid another shutdown.

Democrats, licking their wounds, may be hankering for another chance to fight. Meanwhile, the issue they fought over – healthcare subsidies – could become a pressing concern for tens of millions of Americans who will see their insurance costs double or triple at the end of the year. Republicans ignore addressing such voter pain at their own political peril.