California Gov. Gavin Newsom came out swinging against a Senate deal to end the government shutdown, deeming it a Democratic “surrender.”
The longest government shutdown in U.S. history inched closer to a resolution after a highly anticipated late-night Senate meeting on Sunday, but not all Democrats are happy.
The Senate voted 60-40 on Sunday evening after a group of eight Democrats joined Republicans to reopen the government through a stopgap funding bill that runs until January 30.
While the compromise will fund most federal agencies through January, the deal does not guarantee the extension of health insurance subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of the year. Instead, Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune committed to holding a separate vote on legislation to extend the subsidies by the second week of December, after the government reopens.
“America deserves better,” Newsom wrote on X after the vote.
The House now has to return and agree on the Senate’s deal, which then has to be signed by Donald Trump to end the shutdown, which began on Oct. 1.
The Sunday night vote was delayed by the arrival of the Texas Republican John Cornyn, who was the lone outstanding vote.
Newsom and other prominent Democrats have spoken out against the agreement.
“Pathetic. This isn’t a deal. It’s a surrender. Don’t bend the knee!” Newsom’s press office wrote on Sunday on X in response to Punchbowl News founder Jake Sherman, who had pointed out that the deal “does absolutely zero on Obamacare.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, another frequent adversary of President Donald Trump, similarly derided the agreement, dismissing it as an “empty promise.”
“Trump and his Republican Congress are making healthcare more expensive for the middle class and ending it for working families. Time for Democrats to stand tall for affordable healthcare,” Pritzker wrote.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he would vote against the deal. In a speech on the Senate floor, he slammed Republicans for turning down a Democratic proposal to extend the Obamacare tax credits and open up the government at the same time.
Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders called Senate Republicans’ promise of a vote on the Obamacare subsidies a “totally meaningless gesture” that “won’t mean anything because the House is not going to take it up and the president of the United States certainly will not sign it.”
Sanders told reporters that “it would be a horrific mistake to cave in to Trump right now.”
Newsom also cast doubt on whether Democrats would secure any meaningful action on the subsidies through the deal, reposting a Thursday clip of House Speaker Mike Johnson declining to guarantee a date for a vote on the matter in the House.
“Just going to leave this one here,” Newsom wrote on X. He later posted simply, “Pathetic.”
The shutdown deal was negotiated by two New Hampshire Democrats, Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, as well as Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats.
Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin, Tim Kaine, Jacky Rosen, John Fetterman, and Catherine Cortez Masto were expected to vote for the deal, according to Punchbowl News’ Andrew Desiderio.
For more than a month, Democrats had refused to back a funding bill without an extension of the Obamacare subsidies, pointing out that over 20 million Americans will see their health care premiums soar if the current tax credits are allowed to expire at the end of 2025.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries announced that he would oppose the deal.
“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, where [Speaker] Mike Johnson will be compelled to end the seven week Republican taxpayer-funded vacation,” the New York congressman said in a statement.
Trump, who had pressed Republicans to end the filibuster and force open the government in recent weeks, told reporters Sunday evening, “It looks like we’re getting close to the shutdown ending. You’ll know very soon.”
In a blow to the president, however, the deal ensures that federal employees who were fired by the Trump administration during the shutdown are rehired and receive backpay, according to Politico.
Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought had sought to lay off as many as 10,000 federal workers.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
