Monday’s vote in the Senate to end the shutdown split Democrats, who wanted to exploit the suspension of government activities to target Trump. Once again it was the tycoon who won the match
The shutdown of government longest in American history seems to have its days numbered. In the night between Monday and Tuesday, in fact, the Senate American voted in favor of a bill aimed at breaking theimpasse created and to finance suspended government activities.
The word then passes to House of Representativeswhich will begin the process of approving legislation on Wednesday, or at the latest Thursday, that will likely end more than 40 days of disruption of non-essential government activities.
The vote in the Senate
After more than 40 days, yesterday in the Senate the Democrats’ wall finally collapsed. Until Monday, in fact, the Dems always submitted their vote to the refinancing of subsidies relating to Obamacare, introduced by the former President Barack Obama.
Yesterday, however, 8 Democratic senators finally decided to accept the proposal of the Republican leader in the Senate, John Thune: A guarantee of voting for a law that addresses the issue of subsidies.
We then went to the vote to reopen government activities, which we saw 60 senators in favor, including 8 Democratsand 40 against. The ball was immediately seized by the President of the Chamber Mike Johnson (Republican), who told Fox News his intention to convene the House “immediately” after the Senate passes the bill.
The split in the Democratic party
The agreement reached in the Senate triggered a violent internal fracture within the Democrats. The reactions of the party’s leading representatives were harsh towards the eight senators who voted with the Republicans.
The governor of California Gavin Newsom he branded the move as «pathetic“, arguing that “America deserves better.” The deputy Ritchie Torres he even spoke of «unconditional surrender». While the lieutenant governor of Illinois Juliana Stratton went even further, defining it as «a complete betrayal of the American people».
It is no coincidence that the most ferocious criticism rained down on the Democratic group leader in the Senate Chuck Schumeraccused of exercising weak leadership and failing to maintain discipline within the party ranks.
The deputy Ro Khanna he openly asked for his replacementstating that he is no longer effective in his role. Also Pete Buttigiegformer Transport Secretary and leading party figure, called the agreement reached “a bad agreement”.
For many on the progressive spectrum, the shutdown wasn’t simply a battle over health care subsidies, it represented one strategic tool to fight the Trump administration and demonstrate to voters that Democrats were capable of determined opposition, even if at the expense of the country’s economic health.
However, the strategy seemed to work. Polls clearly indicated that voters blamed the shutdown on Republicans, and Trump’s popularity was declining, falling below 40 percent for the first time, according to CNN.
The final agreement, however, turned into a clear political defeat for the Dems. The tug of war was won by the Republicans, who did not grant any concrete guarantees on health subsidies, but only the promise of a future vote.
The damage of the shutdown
More than 40 days of government shutdowns have left profound marks on America’s social and economic fabric. The Trump administration has exploited the funding freeze to fire thousands of federal employees, who will however be rehired once the shutdown ends.
The transport sector has suffered serious setbackswith hundreds of flights canceled at domestic airports due to staff shortages in security checks and air traffic management.
According to estimates, the overall economic damage from the shutdown exceeded ten billion dollars including lost productivity, lost tax revenues and costs of reactivating services.
The short-term impact will be even stronger, but they should be recovered in the next quarter, meanwhile, Donald Trump can enjoy yet another political victory over a Democratic Party that continues to appear leaderless.
