Senate Democrats risk betraying their own base with shutdown brinkmanship

Democrats in the Senate They have warned for years that the negative side effects of a government shutdown would greatly impact their priorities, but as the shutdown continues, they find themselves in direct opposition to their pet projects.

“There is a very twisted irony,” Senator Cynthia Lummis, Republican of Wyoming, told Fox News Digital.

EFB Advocacy’s John Fehery, who served as press secretary for former Republican House Speaker Dennis J. Hastert, said the “most unbelievable thing” about the shutdown is that Democrats are “hurting their own voters.”

“The Democrats never shut down the government. This is the first time they’ve ever done that. I mean, they let the Republicans shut down the government, but they didn’t do it on purpose,” he said.

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., addresses reporters at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, November 5, 2025. (Tom Brenner/Getty Images)

As Senate Democrats push the shutdown to the longest on record, they remain unprepared to reopen the government, even as millions who rely on food stamps from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are about to receive only partial benefits.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck SchumerThe New York Democrat and his party have remained steadfast in their demand for a guarantee to extend expiring Obamacare premium subsidies in exchange for their votes to reopen the government.

Democrats attacked the president Donald Trump And his administration threatened to defund federal food benefits. Earlier this week, Trump said food stamps would not be funded despite a court order that they be at least partially paid for.

“They are the ones who shut down the government,” Loomis said. “They’re not going to reopen it, so they have nothing to complain about. The government’s reopening is under their control. It’s under their control.”

But his administration has since changed course, announcing in a memo from the US Department of Agriculture that Americans who rely on benefits will receive 65% of the usual amount allocated to them. A federal judge then ordered the administration to fully fund food aid by Friday.

“We’ve found that it hurts union workers, it hurts air travelers, it hurts people on food stamps. I mean, it hurts Democrats,” Vihari said. “Their top priority is to show that they are tough on Trump, and that they are more than happy to use their voters as cannon fodder.”

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President Donald Trump during breakfast with Senate Republicans in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, November 5, 2025. (Yuri Grebas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Democrats acknowledge that the pain of the shutdown cannot be ignored, but they remain steadfast that their fight to expand health care subsidies is worth it.

“Lockdowns are bad,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. “I want them here, but I don’t think we’ve come to a full realization of how much pain there will be in this country when 4 million people lose their health care insurance.” “This is as devastating, if not more devastating, in the long run, than the pain people are feeling this month.”

Julian Epstein, former senior counsel for Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee, told Fox News Digital that Republicans have an opportunity to capitalize on the health care narrative.

“If I were advising Trump, I would ask him to make clear in an Oval Office speech that Democrats are voting to shut down the government and Republicans are the ones who want to open it,” Epstein said. “The president should also make clear his vision for controlling health care premiums.” “Voters are starting to ignore the invective on both sides and all the noise. They want a clear plan for their economic concerns,” he added.

Likewise, Feehery said Republicans should take their time on health care, noting that Democrats are effectively delaying the discussion on Obamacare by prolonging the shutdown.

“If Republicans were smart, they would be talking about why Obamacare is fundamentally broken and how to radically change that,” he said. “But Republicans don’t like to talk about health care, which is kind of annoying.” “But yeah, I think it’s the fact that she’s moved on [Nov. 1 open enrollment] “The deadline made it more complicated.”

There is a feeling on Capitol Hill The shutdown may be coming to an end, but Republicans assert that it will be up to Democrats in the Senate.

A dozen centrist Democrats are considering a GOP offer that would guarantee a vote on the expiring benefits after the government reopens, along with a House-passed continuing resolution and three spending bills to jump-start the government funding process.

Senate Democrats encourage shutdown strategy after election campaign

Sen. Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, speaks to a reporter after voting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, July 23, 2025. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

But many at the rally say that’s not enough, and are demanding that Trump sit down and meet with Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., to reach a deal.

Democrats also believe Republicans are feeling the pinch of Tuesday night’s election, as Democratic candidates swept their Republican opponents in statewide elections, and point to comments made by Trump that the shutdown was hurting the GOP.

Senator James Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma, confirmed that what Trump means is that Democrats are using the shutdown to “ignite their base.”

“But I also think it’s very sad that SNAP recipients and federal workers and their families and Head Start families have to go without it so they can help New York City elections“Which is very sad,” Lankford said.

Meanwhile, Kentucky Republican Rep. Andy Barr, who is running for US Senate in Kentucky, told Fox News Digital: “Every day the Schumer shutdown continues, Americans pay the price — lost paychecks, canceled flights, threats to public safety. Democrats are helping no one. They are sowing chaos and accomplishing nothing.”

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However, Democrats remain largely adamant that the only path they want starts from the White House.

“The shutdowns are terrible. I mean, I don’t know what to tell you,” Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, told Fox News Digital. “What people are going through is truly terrible. The only way out of this is negotiation.”