I'm disappointed too. How reasonable Schumer's proposal was, and how unreasonable Thune's gang was being, had barely had a chance to sink in. I figured within a week the Republicans were likely to cave because they REALLY didn't like the thought of people hating on them over Thanksgiving Dinner.
We'll never know if that thinking was right or wrong.
However, this was not some all out surrender. All along, there WERE negotiations going on -- negotiations on actual appropriations bills. Almost like a functional Congress does as a matter of course. Negotiations on things nobody had publicly drawn a line in the sand on.
The funding cuts in the MAGA Murder Budget are meaningless until they are implemented in an appropriation bill. I expect the negotiated bills mitigate some of those harms.
For example, the MAGA Murder Budget cut SNAP by something like 20 billion a year for the next 10 years. Reporting seems to indicate that the agriculture appropriation bill negotiated as part of the deal fully funds SNAP at current levels through fiscal 2026.
I think we'll be hearing about a number of other "wins" for Democrats in the minibus appropriations bills
And, we may yet get an extension of the ACA subsidies. This stand off has raised public awareness and anger about the catastrophic ACA premium increases. It's possible, perhaps even likely, that enough Republicans decide they are more afraid of their voters than trump.
And the promise of a vote on an ACA bill drafted and negotiated by Senate Democrats is a concession on their part. They've been refusing to negotiate on even the possibility of a vote until the House CR was passed.
Plus, during the stand off, the felon exposed himself as the Grinch who literally went to the Supreme Court to steal Christmas.
All in all, I don't think we are in such a bad place. Time will tell.
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Of the eight:
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada was almost always a yes
Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was always a yes
Sen. Angus King of Maine went back and forth and was part of the group pushing for a deal.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire were working on negotiating the minibus part of this deal, along with some other senior Dems on relevant committees, since before the budget deadline. They would be expected to be yes's when they figured they had gotten all the concessions they were going to get.
So, the "Deal Makers" only needed three more. I don't know if these folks were in on trying to make the deal or just got on board as it looked like it was coming together.
Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois
Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia
Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada
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