Sunday night, in a Senate of one hundred members, the procedural vote to end the longest shutdown in American history went sixty in favor and forty against. The yes column included every Republican except Rand Paul, plus eight Democrats: Durbin, Hassan, Kaine, Shaheen, Cortez Masto, Fetterman, Rosen, and the independent King. The no column included the leader of the Democrats in the Senate, Chuck Schumer.
Buddy. The leader voted no on the deal that the leader knew was passing. That is the move you make when you are trying to keep the caucus while losing the caucus. It works for one news cycle.
The deal does not extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies that expire this month. The fight over the ACA subsidies is the entire reason this shutdown ran for forty-three days. The Senate Democrats spent the autumn telling the country, on camera, that they would not reopen the government without the subsidies. On Sunday, eight of them reopened the government without the subsidies. In exchange they got a promise of a future Senate vote, in December, on a bill the House has not committed to taking up, on a subject the President has said he opposes.
I have run a casino floor. There is a kind of player at the high-stakes table who, when the count goes against him, says: “okay, double or nothing on a coin flip you don’t have to bring.” That player is not a high-stakes player. That player is a man who walked in with a budget he was not telling his wife about.
The argument for the eight Democrats is that the air-traffic system was buckling, food banks were running dry, federal contractors were missing rent, and the Republican House had no incentive to move. The argument is real. It is also, by Sunday night, the argument the eight Democrats had to make to themselves to take the deal they had spent two months saying they would not take.
The funding lasts until January thirtieth. Sixty days. We are going to do this again.
I’m arguing with the television again.
The breakdown.
- Factual basis The deal does not extend the subsidies. The promised vote is in mid-December.9/25
- Self-awareness The fight that closed the government for 43 days was traded for a promise.6/20
- Staff containment Schumer voted no. Eight of his caucus voted yes anyway.8/20
- Recovery attempt Talking-point memos called the deal a 'win on layoffs.' The layoffs are still being undone in court.5/15
- Public spectacle Sunday-night Senate vote, livestreamed; flight cancellations were the backdrop.13/20
Was this dumb enough?
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