This Shutdown Deal Sucks
It's not all bad news, though.
I don’t know why everything in the Democratic Party has to be two steps forward, one step back — but here we are. After our huge wins in last week’s election, the vibe was good. People were energized. And now? We’re frustrated. Eight Democratic senators just caved to the GOP on the shutdown last night.
Yes, the fight’s not over. But we’re in a spot where stopping this trainwreck without a Senate defection is damn near impossible. And the so-called deal these senators negotiated? It sucks.
Of course I want the shutdown to end. I want people to get their SNAP benefits. I want federal workers to get paid. I want the chaos at the airports to stop. But not at the expense of people’s healthcare premiums doubling or tripling. Not at the expense of once again proving the Democratic Party can’t deliver.
Taking this deal — this toothless, empty promise of a Senate vote on healthcare premiums — is just more proof we don’t know how to fight. It’s objectively bad. A promised Senate vote means nothing. First, there’s no guarantee Republicans will support extending the Obamacare subsidies.
If these enhanced ACA tax credits expire, premiums don’t just “go up” — they skyrocket. The average enrollee would pay 114% more, jumping from roughly $888 to $1,900 a year. This will send millions of hardworking families, already hanging by a thread in Trump’s economy, into a financial free-fall.
And this deal? It doesn’t fix a damn thing. It doesn’t lower costs, it doesn’t make groceries or rent more affordable, it doesn’t improve people’s lives in any measurable way. It’s performative politics while real people drown financially.
Second, Speaker Johnson has already said he won’t even bring a fix to the floor. He dodged questions about it this morning. And ending the shutdown won’t change that. It won’t get Congresswoman-elect Adelita Grijalva sworn in any faster. It won’t get SNAP benefits out the door any quicker. Because the GOP budget already slashes them — nearly $300 billion cut from SNAP over the next decade. It guts veterans’ services and police funding. It sunsets the ACA subsidies that keep millions insured.
This budget doesn’t deliver relief — it delivers pain. It’s austerity dressed up as fiscal conservatism.
So why does anyone think this GOP — this party of cruelty, especially in recent weeks, using hungry families and holiday travelers as pawns — would ever negotiate in good faith? This is Trump’s party. They’re not here to help people. Why do we keep pretending otherwise?
Still, for all my frustration, it’s not all doom and gloom. Most Democrats oppose this deal — loudly, angrily. Hakeem Jeffries has done a good job keeping the House caucus together. And when the vote comes, yeah, we might lose a few — but the vast majority of Democrats will stand up and say no.
That won’t stop it from passing. But it’s a sign. A sign that we’re building something better. The next generation of Democrats — the ones on the ballot, the ones who are pissed off — are speaking up. And they’re right.
Mallory McMorrow dropped a great video last night calling this out. She is the future of the party. And let’s talk about Jon Ossoff — up for reelection in Georgia, arguably our most vulnerable seat. He voted against the deal too. That tells you something: we’re on the right side politically, and the future is bright.
As for those eight Democratic senators who brokered this mess? A lot of them are on their way out. Dick Durbin — my senator, and someone I’ve loved working with in the past — is retiring. So are many others. I know folks online are screaming about primaries, but that’s not going to happen. These senators are exiting stage left.
To me, this feels like the final gasp of an older Democratic Party. The new one is under construction — by people like you and me. It won’t be perfect. It’ll have new problems and old ones. But it’ll be different. It’ll be built to fight and deliver in a way the current one just hasn’t.
This isn’t the end of the world. The cracks are showing. And I honestly believe those senators who caved? They did it because they care. They want people to get food assistance. They want their constituents to be okay. I get that. I’m mad at the politics — but I understand the humanity behind it.
Still — the pain people are feeling? That’s not on Democrats. That’s Republican cruelty. That’s on Donald Trump. In negotiations, the person who cares less usually wins. That’s the oldest rule in the book. And this GOP? They don’t care. Not about people. Not about decency. Not about governing.
What really guts me is that — for the first time all year — it felt like Democrats were united around something that mattered. We were fighting. Together. As a united front. And we were winning.
Polls showed the public blamed Republicans for the shutdown. Their tactics pissed people off. We had them on tilt, poker-style. Their moves over the last month and a half were politically toxic: the House GOP skipped work for 45+ days, Trump melted down on Truth Social over the filibuster, and Mike Johnson went on TV and admitted he was using SNAP as leverage. Just raw, stupid cruelty on full display.
We had the nation’s attention. We were pulling the curtain back. And even now, I don’t think that progress disappears. People don’t just forget who these Republicans are. We showed the country exactly what they stand for.
So here’s the deal: two steps forward, one step back is still one step forward. Be angry. But don’t doomscroll. Don’t wallow. Breathe. Then ask yourself: what’s my next move?
Democrats can’t keep negotiating against ourselves. We can’t keep trading long-term pain for short-term calm. Because the truth is, the only way out of this mess is through it — together.
The shutdown will end. The headlines will fade. But what comes next is up to us. The party that fights for working people — not corporations, not billionaires, not the political class — has to start acting like it again.
That means holding the line. That means staying angry, staying organized, and refusing to settle for politics that make life harder for the people we claim to fight for.
We don’t need another reset. We need a rebuild. And it starts with us — the voters, the organizers, the candidates who still believe government can actually make people’s lives better.
And for me? My next move, right now, is getting back to work with my clients this morning — and supporting the candidates who actually represent the future. The ones who aren’t just fighting against a party that’s succumbed to cruelty, but fighting for a country where people can afford to live, to eat, to get care, to dream a little again.
This morning I’m donating again to Mallory McMorrow in Michigan and Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota. I believe in them. I’ll keep working to elevate more leaders who’ll stand up to this bullshit — and help build a new Democratic Party that takes on the GOP with no hesitation.
Because we can win big. We’ve exposed the Republicans in this fight. And there’s still work to do within our own party — but don’t drown in the rage.
Use it.
Thanks for this. It is very bad. I do like your good news - that this terrible event is a dividing line between old and young Dems. Hope you are right about that. I am 73 and am so tired of us Boomers struggling and failing to keep up with the emerging future. C'mon youth!
If you think the “Shutdown Deal sucks,” imagine yourself a SNAP recipient, making $15 an hour choosing between food and rent. I had a friend for whom
I did the math. We weren’t even thinking of health care at the time. It may give you a different perspective. Trump IS trying to starve the poor, so the 1939 FDR Depression law that was the origin of SNAP must be restored.