The votes by a handful of Democratic senators this week to end a government shutdown without key concessions from Republicans has left the party bruised and divided, struggling to explain to a furious base why they folded without securing the health care subsidies they called essential. For many it was a head-scratching defeat, just days after election triumphs showed voters were on their side.

But the closing chapter to the more than 40-day standoff, and the underlying fight over extending tax credits under the Affordable Care Act, could prove perilous for Republicans in the long term. President Donald Trump’s own pollsters and allies have warned that not extending the health care subsidies would amount to a major political risk in the midterms, and the public has shown it will blame a s

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