WASHINGTON — Many Democrats are fuming after a breakaway group of eight senators teamed up with Republicans to strike a deal to reopen the government without extending health care subsidies, backing off on the demand that led to the shutdown.
The agreement, which cleared a key procedural hurdle late Sunday by a vote of 60-40, sparked heavy criticism from congressional candidates, progressive activists and Democratic lawmakers. That includes some members with higher ambitions, who said it shows party leaders are not up to the task of marshaling effective opposition to President Donald Trump.
“This is a defining moment for the party. We need new faces with bold new ideas,” Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who is considering a presidential run, told NBC News. “The American people are tired of a failed status quo.”
Even though Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., criticized the deal and voted against it, some liberal groups and Democratic candidates running against the establishment pointed the finger at him for failing to keep his caucus unified in opposition to a deal that did not include Affordable Care Act funds. If the subsidies expire on schedule at the end of 2025, more than 20 million Americans could face health insurance premium hikes.
Khanna called on Schumer to “be replaced.” Senate Democratic candidates, including Michigan’s Mallory McMorrow, Iowa’s Zach Wahls and Maine’s Graham Platner — all of whom have expressed skepticism about or opposition to re-electing Schumer as leader — demanded a shake-up in Senate leadership.
“Down here in eastern Maine, a doubling of health care premiums destroys families,” Platner said in a video posted to X. “We need to elect leaders that want to fight.”
Liberal criticism of Schumer escalated in March after he accepted a six-month Republican bill to fund the government. While he opposed the current deal, the Democratic caucus members who signed on defended it.
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said Sunday night that the Senate deal represents “a victory” in that it gives Democrats “an opportunity” to extend ACA tax credits, now that Senate Republican leaders have agreed to hold a vote on the issue in December. (The House has made no such promise, however.)
“As of this morning,” he said, “our chances were zero. As of tonight, our chances are maybe 50%. I can’t guarantee a result. Nobody can.”
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Over the weekend, the progressive advocacy group Indivisible polled its members on whether to accept a funding deal or to keep fighting for ACA subsidies — and 98.67% said keep fighting, according to the group’s co-founder Ezra Levin.
“We were hopeful that the Democratic Party could be convinced to fight back against the regime. We tried the largest protests in history and the best election night in years. The public polling was with us. The GOP was fracturing. Trump was fretting. We were winning everywhere but inside the Democratic caucus,” Levin said by text message. “I’m convinced that the time for advocacy is over and the only thing that will shift the Party is a cleansing primary season.”
The group already called on Schumer to resign in March. Now, Levin said it will call on every Democratic Senate candidate to join the calls to push him out as leader.
“We’re launching our primary program today, and we will not back any Senate primary candidate who declines to call on Schumer to step down from leadership,” he said. “More to come.”
Our Revolution, a left-leaning political group that sprang from Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign, circulated a petition Monday afternoon that read, “Schumer must resign NOW!”
Adam Green, the co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, joined the calls Monday for him to step down. “We’ll cut to the chase: Chuck Schumer needs to step down as Senate Democratic Leader,” he wrote to his email list. “The legacy of Chuck Schumer is caving, not winning.”
Schumer, for his part, said Democrats gave Republicans “a chance to fix” the looming health care cost spikes, and the GOP “blew it.” He indicated his party will take the fight to the ballot box.
“Americans will remember Republican intransigence every time they make a sky-high payment on health insurance,” Schumer said Monday on the Senate floor.
