"Before Sunday night's Senate vote cleared the way for legislation that would end the longest government shutdown in history, you got the sense the it would either be resolved quickly or extend into the holiday season. Why? Because the central announced goal for Democrats, the extension of Obamacare-premium subsidies, wasn't happening and likely would never happen until such time as Donald Trump stepped in and forced a deal on MAGA Republicans."
"With Trump showing zero signs of engagement, other than a petulant demand that the whole problem go away via the abolition of the filibuster, the choice for Democrats was binary. They could keep up the pressure until he came off the sidelines or end the shutdown to mitigate the pain being experienced by Democratic constituencies while preserving the Obamacare-premium issue for the midterms."
"Eight Democrats - with probably a lot more of them privately agreeing - chose the second path, and that's all it took to end the filibuster. It was a fairly simple pain-for-gain cost-benefit calculation for the five (Dick Durbin, Tim Kaine, Maggie Kassan, Jacky Rosen, and Jeanne Shaheen) who had voted 15 times against Republican measures to end the shutdown but then moved across the line to break the deadlock along with original dissenters Catherine Cortez Masto, John Fetterman, and Angus King."
Democrats prioritized extending Obamacare-premium subsidies but could not secure the change without Donald Trump forcing a deal with MAGA Republicans. Trump showed no engagement beyond demanding abolition of the filibuster, leaving Democrats with a binary choice: continue pressure or end the shutdown to reduce constituent pain while preserving the subsidies issue for midterms. Eight Democrats, including Dick Durbin, Tim Kaine, Maggie Kassan, Jacky Rosen, Jeanne Shaheen, Catherine Cortez Masto, John Fetterman, and Angus King, voted to end the shutdown after previously opposing Republican measures. Some Democrats privately preferred preserving the subsidy issue for electoral leverage rather than accepting a bipartisan resolution now.
Read at Intelligencer
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