A political scientist on Monday broke down why eight Democrats broke from the Senate Democratic Caucus — and betrayed their own party — in moving to end the government shutdown.
Larry Sabato, director for the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia and the author of "Campaign of chaos, Trump, Biden, Harris and the 2024 American Election," told CNN anchors Boris Sanchez and Brianna Keilar his analysis of the government shutdown nearing its end and what led it to happen.
"Democrats are divided on this. So I think we should get your assessment," Sanchez said.
Sanchez asked: "Is this kind of a caving a capitulation, or is this Democrats just recognizing the law of diminishing returns and sort of getting out before things get worse for Americans?"
"Both. Both is the answer. Obviously, the activists and the Democratic Party are furious. You know, you can spend five minutes on social media and figure that out, and you can see why, because they have been told consistently, really on an hourly basis, not just a daily basis, that Democrats were in it to end it. And it was going to last as long as it took. And they were going to win this fight. And suddenly it's over," Sabato said.
He pointed to one Democrat's statement as to why the lawmakers pushed to end the stalemate.
"Now, technically, only eight senators defected. Eight Democratic senators defected. So maybe that's of some solace. And yet Tim Kaine (D-VA) gave away the game," Sabato explained.
"If you notice something that he said earlier today, he said there were plenty of other Democratic senators who were supportive of this, but were delighted that the eight of us were taking it up. And notice who they are. They're people who aren't on the ballot in 2026. Either they're retiring or they're on the ballot in 2028 or on the ballot in 2030, and everybody knows how quickly the public moves on. Even the activists move on. So it's hard to believe that this wasn't a broader decision by at least a sizable number of Democrats in the Senate."
Kaine, a former vice presidential candidate, shared a statement on X about why he voted on a funding deal to reopen the government.
“This deal guarantees a vote to extend the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, which Republicans weren’t willing to do. Lawmakers know their constituents expect them to vote for it, and if they don’t, they could very well be replaced at the ballot box by someone who will,” Kaine wrote.
