Some of the Senate’s loudest Democratic critics of the government shutdown have quickly become the loudest critics of the deal to end it.
Senators like Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, and John Hickenlooper, a Colorado Democrat, repeatedly accused Republicans of stripping poor families of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and causing health care premiums to skyrocket. Several, like Ed Markey (Mass.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), and Mazie Hirono (Hawaii), said the “cruelty is the point.”
But those same lawmakers are now condemning a deal that eight senators who caucus with Democrats struck with the GOP to reopen the government, which would allow SNAP payments to resume. The measure, which advanced in the upper chamber Sunday night, would fund the government through January 30, provide partial funding for essential services, and unwind some federal layoffs. Republicans also agreed to hold a vote on extending the Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire at the end of December—a notion that wasn’t on the table before striking the deal.
Below is a look at the Senate Democrats who spent weeks railing against the shutdown before condemning the solution to end it.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer
“TRUMP IS LYING AND MANUFACTURING A HUNGER CRISIS. No president in history has cut off SNAP during a shutdown. Including Trump in his first term,” Schumer said October 29. “Trump is using Americans as hostages.”
Schumer also accused the president of “manufacturing a hunger crisis to bludgeon the American people so he doesn’t have to fix healthcare.”
But when the Senate deal came to the floor, Schumer was ready to extend the shutdown.
“For months and months, Democrats have been fighting to get the Senate to address the health care crisis,” he said. “This bill does nothing to ensure that that crisis is addressed. I am voting no, and I will keep fighting.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders
“Trump’s massive cuts to Medicaid and the ACA will cost an estimated 50,000 lives a year. Now he’s refusing to release funds for SNAP, cutting off food aid to 42 million kids, parents, and grandparents in the richest country on Earth,” Sanders said October 30. “This is unspeakable.”
“Trump gave the 1% a trillion in tax breaks. Now he’s working overtime to block SNAP benefits for 42 million Americans who rely on them,” Sanders added Saturday. “Tax breaks for billionaires. Cuts for hungry kids.”
Shortly after the deal advanced in the Senate, Sanders posted a video in which he said that “tonight was a very bad night” and called the agreement “a very, very bad vote.”
Sen. John Hickenlooper
“Republicans gleefully gutted SNAP benefits for over half a million Coloradans,” Hickenlooper said October 2. “Children and families are going to go hungry because of their Big Beautiful Betrayal.”
On Monday, he said, “I voted no just because I got so pissed off.”
“I’m just frustrated,” Hickenlooper added. “We gave them every chance to negotiate.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren
“Health insurance premiums are spiking. SNAP food benefits are delayed. Many federal workers are not getting paid,” Warren said November 3. “So what is President Trump’s response? A lavish Great Gatsby-themed Halloween party inspired by the song ‘A little party never killed nobody.’ It’s disgraceful.”
“Trump is using hungry children, veterans, and seniors as a political tool. It’s fundamentally wrong,” she added Friday.
After the Senate moved to end the shutdown, Warren said, “This deal is a mistake.”
“While Trump and Republicans inflict pain on people, Democrats’ most important job is to fight back,” she added.
Sen. Ed Markey
“Last night, Trump celebrated with tuxedos and champagne while American families woke up to the reality of skyrocketing health care costs and no SNAP funds for food,” Markey said November 1. “He could not be more out of touch. Disgusting.”
His response to Sunday’s measure? “No health care, no deal.”
“This legislation does nothing, nothing concrete to lower costs or protect health care for millions of Americans from MAGA Republican attacks,” Markey said. “I cannot support this deal.”
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