General Discussion

That by Democrats holding out, the ACA subsidies would eventually pass the Rethug Senate, then the Rethug House, then be signed by the Orange sociopath?

I think that was extremely unlikely.

But the holdout, despite its futility, was politically necessary to demonstrate to the public the Democrats were insisting on protecting healthare, while the Rethugs wanted to kill it.

The question was how long to let the shutdown go on. Not long after it became apparent that SNAP benefits would be indefiitely withheld, Democrats acted to ensure needy families would not go hungry and government jobs & pay would be saved.

If nobody here was clamoring for that to happen, that doesn't change the calculus of the matter.