The Senate reached a late-Sunday agreement to reopen the government after eight Democrats joined Republicans to advance a spending bill, igniting sharp criticism from within their own party.
According to Fox News, Democratic leaders and progressives criticized the continuing resolution, arguing that it failed to address rising healthcare costs and concerns about insurance coverage.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., “is no longer effective and should be replaced.”
“If you can’t lead the fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for?” Khanna asked.
Schumer voted against the procedural measure, calling the bill inadequate.
“America is in the midst of a Republican-made healthcare crisis — a crisis so severe, so urgent, and so devastating for American families that I cannot support a continuing resolution that fails to address it,” Schumer said.
He added, “For months and months, Democrats have been fighting to get the Senate to address the healthcare crisis. This bill does nothing to ensure that the crisis is addressed. I am voting no, and I will keep fighting for months and months.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also condemned the move.
“Tonight, eight Democrats voted with the Republicans to allow them to go forward on this continuing resolution. And to my mind, this was a very, very bad vote,” Sanders said. “It raises healthcare premiums for over 20 million Americans… People can’t afford that when we are already paying the highest prices in the world for healthcare.”
He warned that the legislation could “pave the way for 15 million people to be thrown off of Medicaid,” adding that “some 50,000 Americans will die every year unnecessarily.”
Sanders linked the outcome to what he described as a rejection of recent voter sentiment.
“The American people wanted us to stand up to Trumpism — to his war against working-class people, to his authoritarianism,” he said. “But tonight, that is not what happened.”
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., also voiced frustration, sharing a video message after his “no” vote.
“Millions of Californians are at risk of losing their insurance or facing dramatically higher health care costs. Tonight’s vote does NOTHING to address this Republican health care crisis,” Schiff said.
In his message, he added, “That funding bill has nothing in it to help people afford their health insurance… We owe our constituents better than this.”
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., echoed those concerns, warning that the vote could bolster President Donald Trump’s political standing.
“There’s no way to sugarcoat what happened tonight,” Murphy said in a video message. “My fear is that Trump gets stronger, not weaker, because of this acquiescence. I’m angry — like you. But I choose to keep fighting.”
Murphy said Democrats must not “be bullied into submission.”
“I didn’t want this shutdown. I want it to end — but not at any cost,” he said. “I’m just gonna get up tomorrow and go to work to try to convince all of my colleagues that this is a unique moment — and the necessity to stand and fight, even when it’s hard, even when it involves pain, is necessary.”
