Ex-CNN Analyst Gives 3 Reasons Why He Thinks Democrats ‘Caved’ On Gov’t Shutdown

Former CNN analyst Chris Cillizza said that some Democrats have surrendered and pledged support for Republicans’ spending bill for three strategic reasons in a video posted Friday.

Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Senate minority leader, announced he would support a GOP-backed government funding bill through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, during a speech on the Senate floor Thursday. Cillizza said one of the reasons was that Schumer realized his caucus wasn’t united behind a shutdown.

“Reason number one that Democrats gave in: They didn’t have the votes. Schumer is not going to be someone who’s just going to say, ‘You know what, I’m going to be for this resolution,’” Cillizza said. “Twenty-four hours before, he came out and said he was against it and that Republicans didn’t have the votes. Well, they got the votes.”

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“I would guess a lot of swing state Democrats, Democrats up in 2026 did not want to close the government and Schumer is sort of following the herd in that regard. He’s the leader, his job is to kind of read the temperature of the room,” Cillizza continued.

Some Democrats argued in favor of denying Republicans the votes to overcome a filibuster on the spending bill, but Schumer argued it would be “a costly distraction” to the fight against President Donald Trump during his speech on the Senate floor. Cillizza appeared to agree with the argument.