Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) lamented centrist Senate Democrats’ decision to join with Republicans in advancing a funding plan to end the government shutdown, casting it as a “very, very bad” vote.
The Senate was able to move a step closer to ending the longest shutdown in U.S. history, passing the funding bill in a test vote on Sunday that saw eight Democrats cross the aisle. While the legislation still needs to overcome more procedural hurdles in the Senate and then pass the House, it ended a deadlock that has led to delays at airports and a lapse in SNAP benefits.
Despite the progress, Sanders trashed part of his caucus for abandoning their healthcare demands, specifically the expiring Obamacare subsidies. The new framework, while not including an extension of the subsidies, allows a December vote on them.
“Tonight, eight Democrats voted with the Republicans to allow them to go forward on this continuing resolution. And to my mind, this was a very, very bad vote,” he said in a roughly 90-second clip. “What it does, first of all, is it raises healthcare premiums for over 20 million Americans by doubling and in some cases tripling or quadrupling, people can’t afford that when we’re already paying the highest prices in the world for healthcare. No. 2, it paves the way for 15 million people to be thrown off a Medicaid in the Affordable Care Act.”
He also framed the eight Senates Democrats’ votes as essentially bending the knee to President Donald Trump, underscoring widespread gains for the Democratic Party in the 2025 midyear elections last week.
“Just on Tuesday, we had an election all over this country, and what the election showed is that the American people want us to stand up to Trumpism, to his war against working-class people, to his authoritarianism. That is what the American people wanted. But tonight, that is not what happened,” Sanders added.
SENATE TAKES FIRST STEP TO REOPEN GOVERNMENT, FUELING DEMOCRATIC SPLIT
Sanders’s public criticism is not necessarily a break from the party he caucuses with. A majority of Senate Democrats voted against advancing the funding bill, though the test vote saw some surprise votes, particularly Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), who was the only member of Senate Democratic leadership to support the bill.
The other seven Democrats who voted for the bill included some who previously voted to end the shutdown, specifically Sens. John Fetterman (D-PA), Angus King (I-ME), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV). They were joined by Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) on Sunday night.
