The big news on Sunday night was that eight Democrats came to an agreement to approve the continuing resolution (CR) to get the government reopened.
The deal did not include anything for Obamacare, which is the entire reason the Dems were blocking the funding.
Needless to say, the deal is not sitting well with everyone in the party.
Once the deal was announced, the backlash on social media was fast and furious.
For instance, Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) stated, “Tonight is another example of why we need new leadership. If @ChuckSchumer were an effective leader, he would have united his caucus to vote ‘No’ tonight and hold the line on healthcare.”
He continued, “Maybe now @EdMarkey will finally join me in pledging not to vote for Schumer [as conference leader after the 2026 elections]?”
Graham Platner, who will likely be running against Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), also responded, posting, “Chuck Schumer is not built for this moment.” And there was a slew of other Democrat challengers taking the same position.
I have always believed that Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) is someone that we better be careful of in the future.
I don’t know when this time will come in party leadership, but his profile is growing, and he took this failure by Schumer to pounce and make a splash.
He stated, "He's the leader of the Senate. This deal would never have happened if he had not blessed it. Don't take my word for it. Take the word of other senators who are saying that they kept Sen. Schumer in the loop the whole time.”
He continued, "Look, I've worked with Sen. Schumer. He did an incredible job on the CHIPS Act, on the [Inflation Reduction Act], on infrastructure. But it's time for him to be replaced. He is not meeting the moment. He's out of touch with where the party's base is."
One of the reasons why I have not gotten too excited about this just yet is that it will still have to pass the House, and that is not guaranteed.
There are Republicans in the House who wanted those subsidies, most notably Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and Speaker Johnson (R-LA) only has a handful of votes he can lose without the Dems blocking this, and they will try to block it for sure.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) stated, “We will not support spending legislation advanced by Senate Republicans that fails to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. We will fight the GOP bill in the House of Representatives.”
Johnson could get lucky here because there are some moderate Democrats in the House who will support this legislation. One Democrat supported the CR in the House, and there were two who were not present, so there is a little wiggle room for Johnson. Let’s just hope that Johnson has everyone on the same page.
