Some Democrats who are skeptical about their leadership’s tough stance against reopening the federal government privately admit that they fear getting a “hammer” from their liberal base if they vote for the Republican funding bill.
Grassroots Democrats frustrated with the Trump administration are demanding a fight, and on Saturday millions of people joined “No Kings” demonstrations across the country to protest the president’s government.
In that context, Democrats know they will be hit hard by many voices on the left if they don’t get something done to open the government.
“People are going to be hurt if they vote for the House-passed bill to reopen the government and keep it funded until November 21,” said one Democratic senator, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about his party.
A second person familiar with the political dynamics within the Senate Democratic caucus, who spoke to The Hill before the “No Kings” protests, said centrist senators are afraid to break with leaders while party activists are planning anti-Trump rallies.
Another person said, “If people weren’t afraid of getting guillotined, we would have enough votes to reopen the government.”
Only three members of the Democratic caucus have voted to reopen the government: Senators John Fetterman (Pa.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.) and Angus King (Maine), an independent who caucuses with the Democrats.
On Thursday, Senator Jeanne Shaheen (NH) became the fourth Democrat to signal discomfort with the party’s staunch opposition to relatively non-controversial funding bills in normal times, when she voted Thursday to advance an $852 billion defense funding bill.
Liberal activists called the vote “surprising” and a “mistake” to fund the Defense Department and reopen the government without Republican concessions on health care.
“Sensors Shaheen, Cortez Masto and Fetterman voting with Republicans today is shocking,” said Andrew O’Neill, national advocacy director of the progressive group Indivisible.
He said, “This was not a good faith effort by Republicans to end the shutdown with bipartisan negotiations.” “This was GOP political theater, and these three Democrats got involved in it.”
Fetterman rejected that criticism and defended his vote for the defense spending bill because it was motivated by concern for military families who may have to rely on food banks if they stop receiving pay.
He said, “I voted yes to pay our service members. This is a matter of service members more than party. It’s not shocking to me.”
This is all music to Republicans, who want centrist Democrats to feel the pain.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-D.) plans to hold a vote on the continuation resolution passed by the House, hoping to get at least five more Democratic votes to reopen the government.
Democratic senators acknowledge that a handful of their colleagues would like to end the tense standoff over federal funding, but they say those members are worried that a generous response could end their political careers.
“Are there enough Democrats to join Republicans in reopening the government? Not in the near future,” said the Democratic senator, requesting anonymity. “There’s no bipartisan conversation, it’s nothing but bulls-eye.”
The senator said centrist Democratic colleagues would vote to open the government “tomorrow” if left to their discretion, but he didn’t want to risk an angry reaction from the base.
Emma Lydon, managing director of P Street, the government relations affiliate of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said Democrats who vote for the House-passed short-term funding bill are making a “mistake.”
He said voting to reopen the government when millions of Americans are projected to lose their health insurance due to rising premiums “would not be in line with what the American people want.”
“What the Republicans are trying to do is tear down the ACA brick by brick,” he said, referring to the Affordable Care Act.
Lydon said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer (NY) and nine other Senate Democrats, who voted for a partisan House-passed government funding bill in March to avoid a shutdown, made a “mistake.”
“It has been clear to them that the American people do not want to see a Democratic Party that capitulates to Republican extremism. They want a party that stands up for people’s health care, that stands up for our democracy, and that’s what they’re doing now,” he said.
Democratic strategists say the main cause of political fear within the Democratic caucus is online fundraising, which is largely driven by social media.
Sources familiar with the political motivations driving Senate Democrats’ shutdown stance point to Sen. Jon Ossoff (Ga.), the most vulnerable Senate Democrat up for re-election in 2026, as an example of the dilemma facing Democrats.
One Democratic insider argued that Ossoff, who represents a swing state that voted for President Trump in 2024, needs to raise money from the liberal base to win.
“Their calculation is, ‘Will I vote to shut down the government and be crushed and not get a single dollar amount of money or will I vote to shut down the government and get $3 million [from online fundraising]?” the source argued.
Ossoff voted 10 times against House-passed funding bills and on Thursday voted against advancing a bipartisan bill to fund the Defense Department.
The first-term Democratic senator said he is always ready to work to solve problems and blamed House Republicans for being on recess since late September to avoid potential negotiations over rising health care costs.
He told The Hill earlier this month, “We need a bipartisan solution that stops health insurance premiums from doubling and reopens the government. My constituents don’t want health care costs to rise by thousands of dollars and they want to keep the federal government open.”
Democrats said they opposed the defense appropriations bill because Republicans could not assure them that it would move forward in conjunction with the Labor and Health and Human Services appropriations bills, which fund many of their non-defense priorities.
Still, some centrist Democrats are growing impatient with the impasse as they are forced to vote repeatedly on the House-passed clean continuance resolution while leaders of both parties have yet to meet to address rising health care costs.
“I don’t think the leadership is talking to each other and I don’t see how we’re going to get any agreement unless the people in charge decide they’re going to sit down and negotiate,” he said. “The common people are talking a lot. It would be good if our leaders also talked.”
A source familiar with internal Democratic caucus dynamics said Shaheen’s vote to advance the defense bill on Thursday was a signal to Republican colleagues that she is willing to reach a deal to reopen the government, even though she has voted 10 times against the House-passed continuing resolution.
