Reacting to a deal hammered out by seven Democrats and one independent senator to hand Republicans a victory in the shutdown battle with only a promise of a vote for keeping Affordable Care Act subsidies in place and little else to show for it, MSNBC’s Jonathan Lemire said on Monday many of their Democratic colleagues are questioning their waving the white flag.
Speaking with the “Morning Joe” panel about the deal, fashioned by the eight lawmakers — none of whom who will face re-election in 2026 — Lemire noted it was a big turnabout for Democrats who had Republicans and Donald Trump on their heels after last week's elections.
With outgoing Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) heading up the negotiations that resulted in bending to Republicans, who have been taking a beating in the polls over the shutdown, Lemire said, “Right now, in terms of the shutdown, it's interesting to see how this is being received.”
“I think we have to look at it in two different ways,” he elaborated. “Here's the sort of short-term impact and the long-term impact. And like last night — a lot of Democrats are deeply unhappy about what happened last night, a sense particularly from the progressive wing, but not entirely, that this is a weird moment to cave.”
“The Democrats had momentum coming off of the election night win, polls only getting worse for President Trump and the Republicans — they're squarely taking the blame here,” he added. “There's some who really want to push Democrats to push the advantage, bargain harder, get a better deal. And it's true they did not get a guarantee to preserve those Obamacare subsidies. There's going to be a vote later next month, it looks like, but not a guarantee that it will happen.”