Democrats blame Republicans for longest US government shutdown in history

After a historic 43-day government shutdown, Democrats face tough questions about whether the record-breaking standoff was worth it and whether Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer gave up too quickly.

Senate Democrats, who failed to secure the health subsidies they demanded and with several senators breaking ranks to join Republicans in reopening the government, continued to blame President Donald Trump and the GOP for the shutdown under pressure from Fox News Digital.

“I am disappointed and angry that Republicans are forcing a false and impossible choice between health insurance and reopening the government,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said in a statement Wednesday. “They promised there would be a vote on extending health subsidies. If they fail to secure that vote or the vote fails, they should be held accountable. They will be blamed.”

PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS APPLY FOR PARTY LEADERSHIP AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN WITHOUT HEALTH GUARANTEE END

Blumenthal claimed that it was Republicans who “forced the government to make the wrong choice between reopening the government and affordable health insurance,” which he said was “viewed as reprehensible by the American people, and rightly so.”

Like many of his Democratic colleagues, the Connecticut senator dodged the question of whether Schumer could have done more to hold the line in negotiations.

SENATE VOTE TO END GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN SIGNS DEMOCRATIC CIVIL WAR

Seven Democratic senators and six Democrats in the House of Representatives, including an independent who has been meeting with them, voted last week to reopen the government without extending pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies that Democrats have been demanding since the shutdown began Oct. 1.

The intraparty rebellion has exposed a widening rift between the Democratic leadership and the left wing, as progressive candidates accuse Schumer of ceding his influence to Republicans in exchange for a funding deal that leaves key health care priorities unresolved.

“We have federal workers across the country who are losing their paychecks. We have SNAP recipients, millions of SNAP recipients across the country whose access to food stability is being compromised, and we need to figure out what that is for,” Ocasio-Cortez said last week. he said and added: “We cannot make this kind of cruelty possible with our cowardice.”

On Capitol Hill this week, Democrats were less willing to blame Schumer for Democrats breaking ranks, instead blaming Republicans for the ultimatum.

Representative Robert Garcia, California, speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on July 17, 2023 (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Asked whether the shutdown would be worth it, the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, D-Calif. Robert Garcia told Fox News Digital that Democrats “absolutely need to continue fighting for health care.”

And D-Del. “I don’t think you can look at the shutdown from that kind of perspective,” her agent Sarah McBride said of whether it would be worth it.

“I think what’s absolutely clear is that Republicans now own this health crisis,” McBride added. “Americans understand very clearly that it is Republicans who will stop at nothing, including being willing to shut down the government, to block the Affordable Care Act tax credit vote.”

“I voted against reopening without securing changes in health care and without addressing increases in health care,” said Sen. Alex Padilla of California, when asked the same question and without answering whether the government was headed for another shutdown. “That remains our focus and the work ahead of us remains.” he said.

Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., speaks at a press conference on June 11, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

Speaking to Fox News Digital, Democrats argued that they hope the government does not shut down again, but that the party must continue to fight for health care guarantees.

While the government reopened last week, the stopgap funding bill keeps federal spending at current fiscal year 2025 levels only through Jan. 30 to give Congress more time to negotiate a longer-term appropriations package for fiscal year 2026. If Congress cannot reach a consensus, the government could be headed for another shutdown.

As part of the backroom deal to reopen the government, Senate Democrats were promised a separate vote on expanding health subsidies.

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., attends Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention on August 20, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Vincent Alban/Reuters)

“I certainly hope we avoid another government shutdown, but Republicans have promised to vote again on extending health tax credit subsidies. If they fail to secure that vote or the vote fails, they will be blamed. They will be held accountable,” Blumenthal said.

And Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said he looks forward to Republicans having the opportunity to set the record straight by voting on health guarantees this December.

On whether the government is rushing towards another shutdown, Kelly said: “[You] “I need to ask the president and the Republicans in the House and Senate.”

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD FOX NEWS APPLICATION

Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Kristen Gillibrand and Elissa Slotkin did not respond to Fox News Digital’s question about whether the shutdown was worth it, and their offices did not immediately respond to subsequent questions.

When reached for comment, White House Press Secretary Abigail Jackson flipped the script on Democrats blaming Republicans for the government shutdown.

“Democrats shut down the government and inflicted great suffering on the American people because they wanted to use struggling families as ‘leverage’ for their far-left agenda,” Jackson told Fox News Digital.

“President Trump foiled their absurd gamble and delivered another victory to the American people, but it is alarming that even after their attempt failed, Democrats still fail to acknowledge that their shutdowns are hurting the American people,” he added.