Sen. Dick Durbin is once again under fire for voting to advance a Republican-led House measure that would help end the government shutdown — angering Democrats who say the extension of health care subsidies must be part of any deal with Republicans.
Durbin joined the group of moderate Democrats in a 60-40 vote towards passing a bill to fund the government and hold a later vote on extending Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire Jan. 1. The agreement would also reverse mass firings of federal workers that began on Oct. 1, the day the shutdown began, and workers would receive back pay. The Senate may vote on the final measure as soon as later Monday.
Speaking on the Senate floor on Monday, Durbin addressed the anger coming from his colleagues over his vote.
“Many of my friends are unhappy. They think we should have kept our government closed indefinitely to protest the policies of the Trump Administration,” Durbin said. “I share their opinions of this administration but cannot accept a strategy [that] wages political battles at the expense of my neighbors’ paychecks or food for [their] children.”
Durbin said a group of senators sat down with Republican Senate Leader John Thune and reached an agreement to open the government until Jan. 30. The deal also includes three bipartisan appropriations bills that will fully fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program and veterans programs, he said.
“Leader Thune has also promised the Democrats an opportunity before mid-December to present a Democratic bill on the floor with proposals to change the law and protect American families from dramatic health care premium increases,” Durbin said. “It is my fervent hope that this ends up being a bipartisan effort.”
The Illinois Democrat on Sunday night said the bill to end the shutdown is “not perfect,” but helps to minimize the hurt of the 40-day and counting impasse. In a statement, Durbin spoke of air traffic controllers who are working 10 hours a day, six days a week — and of President Donald Trump’s fight to stop payments of SNAP benefits.
The vote was emblematic of a split in the Democratic Party over how to restore healthcare subsidies — and end the shutdown. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries opposed the bipartisan agreement. Key progressives are also speaking out about the measure.
“To my mind, this was a very, very bad vote,” Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said on X. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote, “We are in a health care emergency. … A vote for this bill is a mistake.”
New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan, Sen. Angus King of Maine, Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman and Nevada Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen also voted yes. King, an independent, caucuses with Democrats.
The assurance of a December vote on ACA subsidies wasn’t enough for Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who voted against advancing the measure.
“Trump and Republicans refuse to fight for American families, but I refuse to give up on them. I simply cannot, and I will not, vote to do nothing to help protect them from Trump’s vindictive and malicious efforts in exchange for a vague promise from the least trustworthy Republican Party in our nation’s history,” Duckworth said after the vote.
Three candidates vying for Durbin’s seat also had strong words, including Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, who directly criticized the senator’s vote. “We need fighters in D.C.,” Stratton said, “not folders.”
“As I’ve said since the spring, Republicans do not negotiate in good faith,” Stratton said in a statement on Sunday. “Today’s vote plays directly into Donald Trump’s hands and serves as another example of the failures of business as usual.”
U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, also running for the Senate seat, is a “vehement NO on the deal,” according to a spokeswoman. And U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, the fundraising leader in the Senate race, said, “the ability of the American people to afford health care must not depend on Donald Trump keeping his word.”
“I cannot support any deal built on delay, deception, and empty promises,” Krishnamoorthi said.
Durbin similarly drew criticism in March for joining 10 Democrats to advance a Republican funding proposal to a final vote and avoid a shutdown at all costs.
“There is very little about this [continued resolution] that I like — but there is even less I like about shutting down the government,” Durbin said then. The vote sparked backlash from progressive groups — and left Chicago advocacy organizations like Equality Illinois, the Chicago Federation of Labor and Personal PAC scratching their heads.
The senator in May announced he wouldn’t be seeking another run.
Gen Z-led voter outreach organization Voters of Tomorrow on Monday said Democratic senators who voted for the plan, “betrayed our generation.”
“While no one wants the government shutdown, the healthcare of millions of young Americans is worth fighting for. Senators [Tim] Kaine, [Jeanne] Shaheen, [Maggie] Hassan, [John] Fetterman, Durbin, [Catherine] Cortez-Masto, [Jacky] Rosen, and [Angus] King have betrayed our generation,” the organization said. “Either through complicity or incompetence, Chuck Schumer once again proved he cannot provide the type of leadership that young Americans demand. It is clear he must step down as caucus leader.”
Despite the Democratic opposition, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents 820,000 federal government workers, applauded senators who approved the resolution, writing in a statement federal employees “should never have to stand in line at food bank because Congress has refused to do its job.”
“We strongly urge the House of Representatives to pass this continuing resolution and for President Trump to sign it immediately,” AFGE President Everett Kelley said.
Also on Monday, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association marked the second consecutive zero-dollar paycheck for the country’s air traffic controllers. The union said controllers are working mandatory overtime — with little room to take on second jobs to make a paycheck.
“This has the potential to increase stress and fatigue for an already overworked and understaffed workforce,” the union said.
The union is calling on Congress to immediately end the government shutdown to ensure that all federal employees receive a paycheck.