Democratic lawmakers reeling after Senate vote to end government shutdown

The Senate reached a deal Sunday night to clear the way for reopening the government after eight Democrats joined Republicans to reach 60 votes, triggering backlash from those who opposed the spending bill.

Democratic leaders have expressed strong opposition, arguing that upholding the resolution fails to address the nation’s worsening health problems. Several prominent lawmakers spoke out immediately after the vote, casting it as a test of priorities and moral leadership.

Rep. Ro Khanna, R-Calif., said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, “is no longer effective and should be replaced.”

“If you can’t lead the fight to prevent skyrocketing health care premiums for Americans, what will you fight for?” » asked Khanna.

Schumer voted no in the procedural vote.

“America is in the middle of a Republican-made health care crisis – a crisis so serious, so urgent and so devastating for American families that I cannot support a continuing resolution that fails to address it,” Schumer said.

THE CAVE OF SENATE DEMOCRATS, AN OPEN PATH TO THE REOPENING OF GOVERNMENT

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks during a news conference with members of the Senate Democratic Caucus in Washington, DC, October 28. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Schumer said Democrats have continually pushed for meaningful health care reforms.

“For months and months, Democrats have been fighting for the Senate to address the health care crisis,” he said. “This bill does nothing to ensure the crisis is resolved. I am voting no and will continue to fight for months and months.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., delivered a forceful rebuke, criticizing both Republicans and the eight Democrats who joined them in supporting the resolution.

“Tonight, eight Democrats voted with the Republicans to allow them to move forward on this continuing resolution. And in my opinion, that was a very, very bad vote,” Sanders said. “What this does, first of all, is it increases health care premiums for more than 20 million Americans by doubling them, and in some cases tripling or quadrupling them. People can’t afford that when we’re already paying the highest prices in the world for health care.”

SANDERS CALLS 8 SENATE DEMOCRATS FOR A “VERY, VERY BAD VOTE” ON GOVERNMENT FUNDING MEASURE

Senator Bernie Sanders speaks at the No Kings Rally in Washington, DC on October 18, 2025. (Fox News Digital/Emma Woodhead)

He then warned of the wider consequences of the legislation.

“This paves the way for 15 million people to be taken off Medicaid. While studies of the health care law show it will mean some 50,000 Americans will die needlessly each year. And all of this was done to give a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the 1 percent.”

Sanders connects the vote to broader political trends and said he ignores the message voters sent in recent elections.

House Speaker Mike Johnson is joined by Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Whip Tom Emmer and Brian Steil for a press conference on the tenth day of the government shutdown, October 10, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images)

“As everyone knows, last Tuesday we had elections across the country, and what those elections showed was that the American people wanted us to stand up to Trumpism, to his war on the working class, to his authoritarianism,” Sanders said. “That’s what the American people wanted. But tonight, that’s not what happened.”

Despite his disappointment, Sanders pledged to continue pushing for expanded access to health care.

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Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., also spoke out after the vote, sharing a video message about X alongside a seething assessment of the funding bill’s failure to address health care costs.

“Millions of Californians are at risk of losing their insurance or facing significantly higher health care costs. Tonight’s vote does NOTHING to solve this Republican health care crisis,” Schiff said.

In the video, Schiff recounts his “no” vote, calling the moment symbolic of the bleak prospects for health care reform under the current bill.

“So I just voted no on the Republican funding bill. I’m outside the Capitol. It’s dark and it’s raining, and it seems very appropriate for the moment because this funding bill contains nothing to help people pay for their health insurance. This bill contains nothing that is going to reduce costs. This bill contains nothing that is going to ensure that people with pre-existing conditions can afford their health insurance,” Schiff said, in part.

He continued: “We owe our constituents better than that. We owe a resolution that allows them to pay for their health care. (The) system (is) already broken enough. This just kept the situation from getting worse.”

Schiff also joined Schumer in describing the shutdown and Sunday’s vote as a “Republican health care crisis.”

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Sen. Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, released a late-night video from his office, expressing deep frustration with the outcome and warning that the vote could embolden President Donald Trump.

His caption read: “I went back to my office after tonight’s vote and recorded this. There’s no way to sugarcoat what happened tonight. And my fear is that Trump will become stronger, not weaker, because of this acquiescence. I’m angry – like you. But I choose to keep fighting.”

Murphy also reflected on the vote’s implications for democracy and health care, saying Democrats must continue to stand firm despite the political cost.

“The American people don’t want Democrats to be forced into submission. They want Democrats to fight for their health care. They want Democrats to fight Trump’s illegality,” the senator said.

“I didn’t want this shutdown. I want it to end – but not at any cost. This shutdown hurt, it did – but unfortunately, I don’t think there’s a way to save this country, to save our democracy, without there being some tough, tough times along the way.

…I’m angry about this. And I’m just going to get up tomorrow and go to work to try to convince all my colleagues that this is a unique time – and that the need to stand up and fight, even when it’s hard, even when it involves pain, is necessary.”