Swing-state Democrats turn on 8 centrists not facing reelection over hijacked shutdown

The latest fault lines among Democrats don’t quite align with the familiar divide between progressives and centrists. Instead, there is renewed rancor over how aggressively President Donald Trump and the GOP majority aligned with him on Capitol Hill will fight, with some progressives renewing their calls for Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer to step down, even as he publicly opposes the latest deal.

The left wing is angry that eight centrist senators — none of whom face re-election in 2026 — have crafted a deal with Republicans that does not guarantee Democrats’ key demand for an extension of the Affordable Care Act’s signature subsidies that will expire at the end of the year. They say the agreement means Schumer can’t hold his caucus together.

Some moderates are feeling frustrated, or at least stuck on a political tightrope, more than a month after Democrats agreed that the longest federal shutdown ever was the way to finally use their limited influence to achieve some policy and policy gains in a Republican-dominated capital.

Party leaders, including Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, continue to blame Republicans for looming premium hikes and other shutdown ripples, but the abrupt end to the standoff underscores the difficulty of sustaining Democrats’ fragile and divided coalition.

“Republicans have learned that they can hurt our communities, they can hurt ordinary people, including their own voters, and Democrats will back down,” said Maurice Mitchell, who leads the progressive Working Families Party.

New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill, who won by more than double the Democratic margin in 2024 in her state, said victories like hers showed voters “want leadership with a backbone” that “remains strong under pressure.”

Instead, she said, “The Senate is on the verge of collapse.”

Democratic dealmakers say there is no viable alternative

Democrats who made the deal countered that they had no choice but that Republicans would not budge, and that the pressure of a prolonged shutdown had become untenable, as the Trump administration withheld food aid payments to low-income Americans and forced flight delays at airports due to a shortage of air traffic controllers.

Democrats settled on a pledge from Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RD, to hold a vote in December on ACA benefits, along with ensuring federal workers who missed their paychecks are paid, among other policy details.

“This was the only deal on the table,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.

Democrats pointed to Trump, after the electoral defeats suffered by the Republican Party, and called on Republican senators to end the filibuster and completely bypass the minority. Centrists said it showed Trump could not be maneuvered into negotiations — even though Republican senators were advocating a filibuster.

“After 40 days, it wasn’t going to work,” senator Tim Kaine of Virginia said of Democrats’ demands.

Illinois State Senator Dick Durbin, Schumer’s deputy, said the shutdown “seemed to be an opportunity to lead the United States to better policy. But it did not work.”

This did not convince many center-left Democrats and swing states.

Senate opponents include Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who won her seat in 2024 at the same time Trump won Michigan and other Midwest industrial battlegrounds, and Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, the only Democratic senator running for re-election in 2026 in a state Trump won in 2024.

“Insurance premiums for 1.4 million Georgians are set to double, and nearly half a million Georgians could lose health insurance altogether,” Ossoff said in a statement, before blaming the GOP. “The President refuses to fix it and withholds SNAP benefits while the House has not come to work for six weeks.”

Mallory McMorrow, a Michigan state senator and U.S. Senate candidate, said the situation embodies a larger issue for the party, with Democrats playing by their usual set of rules and Republicans using more aggressive tactics.

“It makes you wonder what’s the point of fighting? Why sacrifice?” McMorrow said, adding that some senators are governing out of “nostalgia” without understanding the new landscape. “Refusing to evolve and admit that this is not the same Senate it was a decade ago or even five years ago means the party will never win.”

The agreement highlights the divisions between generations of Democrats

None of the eight senators at the center of the convention faces electors in 2026, and their average age is more than 65. Shaheen, 78, and Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, 80, have already announced their retirement before the midterm elections.

Shaheen found herself at odds with her daughter, Stephanie Shaheen, 51, who is running for congress in New Hampshire. The younger Shaheen noted that House Speaker Mike Johnson has so far refused to set a date for a House vote on supporting the ACA.

“We need to end this shutdown and extend the ACA tax credits,” she said in a statement. “Otherwise, no deal.”

It’s a tough turn, especially for Schumer. The 74-year-old New Yorker faced harsh criticism for not shutting down the government in the spring. The mention of his name last Friday at CrookedCon, a gathering of progressives in Washington, drew boos and boos, even as he was embroiled in the latest shutdown battle.

The age of Democratic national leaders and the related assertion that they are out of touch with the norm has defined aspects of the party’s dynamics for several years, with Joe Biden being the oldest president in US history and having to be forced out of his re-election bid at the age of 82. But Biden and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is retiring from the House at age 85, took credit for passing important legislation with narrow Democratic majorities.

Schumer (74 years old) played a major role in those achievements as well, as he led Democrats in the Senate during Biden’s presidency. But he has sometimes taken less credit from party activists, and now he faces criticism for not holding his caucus together in the latest shutdown fight, even as public polls and election results suggest voters are siding with Democrats.

“The best way to unite the Democratic Party and deliver a big win in 2026 is to make clear that the new generation of Democratic senators we elect will not follow Chuck Schumer down a losing path,” Progressive Change Campaign Committee Chairman Adam Green wrote to the organization’s supporters on Monday, as he called for Schumer to step down.

Senate candidate Graham Blatner, who is competing against Maine Gov. Janet Mills for the right to challenge Republican Sen. Susan Collins, said Schumer should hand over leadership of the caucus.

“People are tired of this,” Blattner told Our Revolution activists in a conference call Monday. Blattner said the deal is “just another glaring piece of evidence that shows he is absolutely incapable of living up to this moment.”

Democrats still want Republicans to own health care cuts

Durbin and others argue that the six-week shutdown did something tangible because it raised the issue of health care. They believe the promised vote in the Senate will score every Republican and ensure that Trump and his party will once again be held accountable for any negative effects on people across the country.

“We will have our day in court in December,” Durbin insisted.

Meanwhile, Mitchell said progressives are already looking ahead to 2026, from Democratic primary battles up and down the ballot.

He said: “We are not proud of the surrender of our friends within the Democratic Party.” “But the story writes itself about why we need a fighting opposition party right now.”

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