General Discussion

In the grand scheme of things, did Schumer's actions make any real difference one way or another?

* The longer the shutdown, the more pain that it causes people, and the harder it becomes to recover from.
* There was a very real possibility that the Dems could be tarred with having extended the shutdown (legitimate or not) on the back of a procedural point that would never have passed in a Republican controlled Congress regardless.
* By pushing this to the enrollment period, it has become a primary concern for a lot of people (especially older people) for whom Obamacare and Medicare/Medicaid are lifelines.
* The shutdown was impacting public safety, especially in the air.
* So long as the shutdown is active, Trump can act with impunity. Once over, then everything that he does is going to tar and feather the Republicans.
* Mike Johnson is now taking a stand against Obamacare, which the GOP has been VERY reluctant to actually touch, even though they threaten to touch it all the time. This puts them in the position that they will have to replace it with something else, and they quite probably don't even know how to do it.

Could Schumer have gained meaningful concessions from either Thune or Trump? Not a chance. Trump has no intention of obeying any laws that are passed in that regard.

Was it an ideal solution? No. It was nominally a victory for the Republicans because the Democrats "lost face", but the reality is that its a very pyrrhic victory for them.