Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, to his right, and other congressional Republican leaders hold a news conference on the first day of the federal government shutdown on Oct. 1, 2025.

The U.S. Senate finally passed a funding package Nov. 10 to end the longest government shutdown in recorded history ‒ 42 days so far − at least through Jan. 30.

The jig is finally up for Senate Democrats, and the optics do not look good for them.

Come next November, Democratic voters should remember that the government was closed for a record amount of time and that almost the entire Democratic caucus seems willing to keep the government closed indefinitely for leverage they didn't even really have.

Overall, the deal makes Republicans look good: It would reopen the government and, in exchange, agreed to restore back pay for furloughed federal workers. Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program would continue through next September, and Congress would resume funding other domestic agencies and programs. The deal also would reverse the firings of the more than 4,000 federal staffers laid off after the shutdown started Oct. 1.

The shutdown deal isn't done yet, though. Final votes are still needed in the House of Representatives.

Shutdown was a fool's errand by Democrats in Congress

The government shutdown was starting to affect people in real life. According to YouGov, about 36% of Americans say the federal government shutdown is affecting them either a great deal or somewhat. That's up from 21% in October.

This didn't have to happen in the first place. It was a colossal waste of time and effort on the part of the Democratic Party.

Plus, it created a political civil war among progressives within the Democratic Party and forced their true colors to come through. From what I've seen already, it isn't pretty: Some Democrats are calling for the resignation of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, because they're so mad he didn't keep in line the rebellious few who caved.

Now that the government will likely reopen soon, the shutdown antics originated by congressional Democrats have become crystal clear: They leveraged something they couldn't guarantee to lose an optics war they started and ultimately gained nothing but delayed wages, flights and SNAP benefits for millions of Americans.

Most Democrats refused, using their desire to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic as leverage.

I'm glad Republicans didn't budge on Obamacare subsidies. Democrats voted for the American Rescue Plan Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, which increased the ACA subsidies temporarily.

No Republicans voted for either of those measures. Why would they have started now?

It was a fool's errand for Democrats to use Obamacare subsidies, of all things, as leverage, when Republicans have the majority and never voted for them in the first place.

In Congress, Republicans learned a lesson in unity − Democrats turned on one another

I'm glad Republicans didn't cave on Democrats' pressure, even in spite of potentially sour optics. The shutdown fiasco is a lesson for Republicans in unity, something they've struggled with in the past.

Circling the wagons to gain power or policy wins is usually something Democrats are better at doing. Watching Democrats turn on one another, when they failed to use Obamacare subsidies as leverage to keep the government closed, is icing on the cake.

Republicans have had 53 senators and essentially three Democrats ‒ Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Angus King of Maine ‒ willing to reopen the government, so they only needed four more Democrats to push legislation to the floor. Five Democrats surrendered.

Some congressional Democrats are furious at their eight colleagues. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, said in a post on X that they failed to “hold the line.”

In September, House Republicans passed a spending bill, but it failed in the Senate because Democrats decided they wanted to extend tax credits for Americans enrolled in the Affordable Care Act. Republicans argued that Obamacare subsidies could be debated later, but Democrats wouldn't budge. Republicans ultimately voted not once, not twice, but more than a dozen times to keep the government open and fund SNAP benefits, military pay and more.

Other Democrats are furious, too. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said the GOP's deal was “an empty promise,” and California Gov. Gavin Newsom seemed to call the move “pathetic” in a post on X, though he didn't specify more.

When midterm elections arrive in 2026, voters would do well to remember that under the guise of health care affordability, it was Democratic politicians who refused to agree on a measure to reopen the federal government − and scorned the members of their party who did − all for leverage on a policy demand they ultimately lost anyway.

Nicole Russell is a columnist at USA TODAY and a mother of four who lives in Texas. Contact her at nrussell@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @russell_nm. Sign up for her weekly newsletter, The Right Track, here.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Honestly, Democrats. What was the point of your government shutdown? | Opinion

Reporting by Nicole Russell, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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