Despite folding under pressure to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, Morning Joe co-host Joe Scarborough and his guests claimed on Monday that Democrats were still winning on the healthcare issue. The night prior, several Democrats and Independents joined Republicans in passing a package that would restore funding to many government entities, essentially showing that Democrats were in the driver’s seat all long in determining the fate of the government shutdown.
Former Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) praised the minority for stymieing regular government operations by signaling to their base: “John Thune would never be offering this vote up if they hadn’t stood strong and shut down the government, if the Democrats hadn’t done that. They have accomplished something here. I don’t think he would have allowed this vote.”
If it weren’t for the Democrats, Congress wouldn’t be voting on extending federal health care subsidies (which would take more money out of your pocket) that Trump already signed out of law back in July. What an “accomplishment.”
Even though she admitted “it’s not clear the House will go along with” passing an extension, McCaskill encouraged Democrats to continue pushing anyways:
And remember, the government could be shut down again in January. […] There’s nothing keeping the Democrats from saying again, “Hey, we’re gonna hammer you one more time. We’ve got to have some relief on these healthcare benefits.” If they keep this discipline around costs, particularly health care, from now until next November, they won’t have to worry about whether Mike Johnson will allow a vote on health care benefits.
So, not only was the possibility of another shutdown promising to her, but so was the idea of Democrats’ persistence on healthcare being a relevant factor in the 2026 midterms.
Scarborough argued that Republicans hurt their messaging and popularity by refusing to bow to Democrats’ demands:
And by the way, for Democrats saying, “Well, what was gained by this shutdown?” Look at every single poll. Look at it — not only on Donald Trump, but look at every single poll on health care. What Republicans did by not compromising with the Democrats is they took crime off the front page of every newspaper. That was the story and they turned it into health care. And since that happened, their numbers, Republicans’ numbers, have just collapsed.
Very strange. The leftist media had shifted its prolonged focus on ICE raids and National Guard deployments and towards the shutdown and the recent elections. Either way, Trump and the Republicans were made out to be the bad guys.
Former MSNBC host Chris Matthews disagreed with his fellow panelists on their reasoning: “So, one of the things the Democrats made a mistake on is betting everything on healthcare in terms of the shutdown, because the shutdown was not gonna end because of that. The Republicans […] don’t want it, period. And they’re not gonna back it.”
But he agreed that Democrats would remain the favored party on the issue: “Separate the shutdown from healthcare and you win on health care.”
Facts can be interpreted ludicrously. Enough Democrats finally caved and didn’t really get what they wanted as a result. Does anyone really think those extensions will somehow pass again? Everyone lost during the shutdown—Democrats certainly didn’t “win.
The transcript is below. Click “expand” read:
MSNBC’s Morning Joe
November 10, 2025
7:21:47 a.m. EST
(…)
KATTY KAY: Yeah. Look, there’s some polling number just out this morning that suggest that the Democrats have managed, in a way, to frame this debate. This is interesting. Politico‘s got it from Stack Data polling that shows that 71 percent of Americans are now concerned about the healthcare subsidies ending. And here’s the big number, 50 percent of self-identified MAGA Republicans also say they’re concerned about the healthcare subsidies ending. So, it’s quite possible that Democrats have already shifted the debate around this during the course of this shutdown.
But, Claire, you asked Angus King a very interesting question just earlier, and that’s, “What happens next?” And he said he may have double digits of Republican Senators who are happy to vote with Democrats on extending the subsidies in some form. But what happens in the House? Because it’s not clear that the House would go along with that.
FMR. SEN. CLAIRE MCCASKILL (D-MO): Well, it’s not clear the House will go along with it. But talk about an opportunity to make it crystal clear to America who’s looking out for ya. That would be an opportunity that they don’t have right now. John Thune would never be offering this vote up if they hadn’t stood strong and shut down the government, if the Democrats hadn’t done that. They have accomplished something here. I don’t think he would have allowed this vote. And it will put tremendous pressure — listen, they want to hold the House. They’re gonna read that poll, Kay, they’re gonna read that poll, and they’re gonna see in the House those members that are in districts that are five-point Trump wins. You just saw what happened in New Jersey. You just saw what happened statewide in Georgia. They’re worried, those members of Congress are worried. So it’s going to put tremendous — it’s gonna switch the pressure from being on the Democrats worried about people that aren’t gonna be able to feed themselves at Thanksgiving to the Republicans worried about the reality they’re facing with the American people and how they see this problem.
And remember, the government could be shut down again in January. This only goes till —
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Yeah.
MCCASKILL: — the end of January. There’s nothing keeping the Democrats from saying again, “Hey, we’re gonna hammer you one more time. We’ve got to have some relief on these healthcare benefits.” If they keep this discipline around costs, particularly healthcare, from now until next November, they won’t have to worry about whether Mike Johnson will allow a vote on healthcare benefits.
SCARBOROUGH: And by the way, for Democrats saying, “Well, what was gained by this shutdown?” Look at every single poll. Look at it — not only on Donald Trump, but look at every single poll on healthcare. What Republicans did by not compromising with the Democrats is they took crime off the front page of every newspaper. That was the story and they turned it into healthcare. And since that happened, their numbers, Republicans’ numbers, have just collapsed. And it had a massive impact this past week.
And Chris Matthews, I know a lot of people are saying, “Well, hey, what’s gonna happen in the House?” I’ll tell you what’s gonna happen in the House. Two things are gonna happen in the House if they vote to extend these subsidies. Number one, you are going to have a certain Democrat that gets sworn in. So add one to the Democrats. You’re going to have a certain Republican that represents Dalton, Georgia, my grand mom’s old town, who’s — MTG who is going to vote to help people in her own district afford to pay for their healthcare. That’s two. And suddenly when you only need two or three more votes and you’ve got about 10 or 12 people, Republicans that are in districts that Joe Biden won, please. That’s where the action’s gonna be. Get the popcorn popping. I can’t wait to watch that debate.
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Well, when I watched what happened in Bucks County, Pennsylvania last week, anything is possible. It’s the first time in a millennium, I think, that they voted straight Democrat there.
But just to retrace the way your logic worked two or three weeks ago, when you said once the Democrats follow up, when you said they’re going to put ACA on the line and Medicaid on the line and say, ‘We have to full fund them, we have to go back there,’ what happened? Events occurred. All of a sudden SNAP — we worried about food stamps. All of a sudden food stamps became a big concern. And then they — we worried about the air traffic controllers — and we still worrying about them, they’re still tired. And we worried about an airplane crash. And this all happening.
So, one of the things the Democrats made a mistake on is betting everything on healthcare in terms of the shutdown, because the shutdown was not gonna end because of that. The Republicans voted to the last man to kill Obamacare. John McCain is still hated because he wanted to save it. They don’t want it. They don’t want it, period. And they’re not gonna back it. So, it’s an interesting thing. Separate the shutdown from healthcare and you win on healthcare.
JONATHAN LEMIRE: Yeah. There’s no question here that Republicans really took a blow during these few weeks. They’re the loser, no doubt, of this shutdown. We’ve seen the President’s poll numbers decline even further, GOP party at large decline even further.
(…)
