Tuesday, November 11, 2025 -After 40 days of tense negotiations and a partial government shutdown, Senate leaders struck a last-minute deal late Monday — but the outcome has left Democrats furious. The agreement, which funds the government through early next year, contains no new provisions on healthcare despite weeks of internal pressure from the party’s progressive wing.
Many lawmakers and activists see the result as a capitulation, with one aide calling it “a surrender dressed as compromise.” The frustration underscores growing divisions within the party as leadership struggles to balance fiscal stability with policy promises that motivated their base.
While the deal succeeded in reopening key federal operations and calming markets, critics argue it came at too high a political cost. Hospitals and public health agencies continue to warn of staffing shortages and funding gaps that could have been addressed in the final package. “We had leverage — and we gave it away,” one Democratic senator reportedly told CBS News after the vote.
With President Trump leveraging the shutdown chaos to tout his own deal-making prowess, Democrats are now grappling with how to sell a settlement that seems to deliver little for their core priorities.
As Congress prepares for another budget showdown in the new year, the healthcare fight is far from over. Progressive Democrats are pushing leadership to adopt a harder line in future negotiations, insisting that access to affordable care must not be sidelined again.
For voters watching inflation and medical costs rise simultaneously, the perception of political inaction could prove costly. In Washington, the message from the Democratic grassroots is clear: no more deals that trade away the nation’s health for temporary peace on Capitol Hill.
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