It’s over.
The Democrats caved. They had held out, stalled on funding a continuing resolution, and in the end, they got nothing.
Big fail.
Who were the Democrats who caved and assisted with the resolution? What’s the final fallout from the shutdown? Who are the big losers? Who are the big winners?
Let’s start with the three Democrats who consistently voted to fund the government along with the Republicans (no one cares about Rand at this point):
Angus King
John Fetterman
Cortez-Masto
John Fetterman
From progressive with a stroke to a stroke for what is right, Fetterman represents a de facto red state. The GOP registration advantage is rushing towards Republicans, and let’s not forget that Trump triumphed in that state in a broad upset, a second time in eight years. AND a Republican defeated the well-established Casey political machine last year.
The Democratic Party is on borrowed time in the Keystone State, and Fetterman knows it. He has formed a bromance with Republican junior senator Dave McCormick, and he has slowly crossed the aisle to help Republican efforts. He has also condemned the condemnation of MAGA. His frequent appearances on Fox News have drawn the ire of the regressive left.
Fetterman will disaffiliate from the Democratic Party by the end of the year or the beginning of 2026.
Angus King
Angus King is an interesting case. Maine is still somewhat purple, despite the fact that the voting base just rejected a voter ID ballot initiative in 2025 to keep their elections sound. In 2026, retiring Democrat (In Name Only) Congressman Jared Golden’s seat will have a strong MAGA GOP candidate, former governor Paul LePage, and I predict he will win. Will Susan Collins fail in her bid for re-election? I doubt it, since she has cut a fine line leaning against the President and the GOP on key votes, having survived her vote to confirm Kavanaugh, and the Democrats are facing a fraught primary between the government of Maine, who gets booed regularly at public events while allowing boys in girls’ sports and illegals on government welfare, and a progressive leftist who loves Nazis.
King sees a divided electorate in his state, and the last thing the liberal cause needs is another reason to hate Democrats and vote right in 2026.
For the record, King was a Republican governor of Maine, and he is still strong on gun rights. He is not John Fetterman, but he is not a woke, broke joke of a liberal either.
Catherine Cortez Masto
The Masto situation is interesting. Why her? Why this whole time?
Nevada is shifting under the Democratic Party’s feet. Trump brought Nevada back to the GOP fold for the first time in 20 years. A Republican was elected governor in 2022, defeating a powerful Democratic incumbent (commissioner from Clark County). Republicans peeled off a legislative seat in 2024 (Democrats have pretty much dominated the state house for thirty years), but they have a better chance of flipping the state. Republicans hold half the statewide offices, and Republican Governor Joe Lombardo is a team player who will help the cause.
But what about the other Democratic U.S. senators who finally assisted the caving of the Democratic Party?
US Senator Tim Kaine
Kaine, the junior senator from Virginia, represents a lot of federal workers. He was also Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential nominee in 2016. I suspect Kaine wanted to carve a niche for himself as a common-sense leader who could work with the opposite party to do what is best for the country.
I predict that he is going to throw his hat in the ring to run for president in 2028, or try for the VP slot again. He will attempt to curry favor from the same federal workers whose jobs and pay he restored, and since Virginia is now a safe blue seat, but one that elected a not-so-crazy Democrat as governor, he can coast on this accomplishment.
Maggie Hasan and Jeanne Shaheen
New Hampshire is becoming a swing state. New Hampshire’s Republican core is getting deeper red by the minute.
Former Governor Jeanne Shaheen is not running for re-election, so she doesn’t have to worry about blowback from the progressive base. Her daughter, who is running for House District One to replace Chris Pappas, disagreed with her own mother on the agreement to reopen the government, interestingly enough, showing that the Democratic base wants to burn everything down if they cannot take control.
Maggie Hassan (also a former governor) claimed that constituents were complaining about the lasting impact of the shutdown, as well, but more likely the issue is that Republican odds are increasing slightly in the state, and she wants to ensure that her next colleague remains a Democrat.
Jackie Rosen
The other US Senator from Nevada helped broker a deal, and she voted to reopen the government. Like Masto, she’s looking at a state that is getting increasingly redder by the minute. US veteran Sam Brown almost won the state (losing by only 1% in 2024, when Rosen had won the seat in 2018 against incumbent Dean Heller by 5%).
Nevada is getting redder, and Rosen doesn’t want to get cut out in the next election, should she run again.
Dick Durbin
A liberal from a blue state, one would think that Durbin would hold his ground and say no to any funding. But since he is not running again, he has nothing to lose. Also, I imagine that he agreed to fall on the sword and risk the ire of the progressive base so that he could help his friend, Minority Leader Schumer.
Durbin has nothing left to lose, and likely he wanted to throw a last bit of defiance at the growing leftist-progressive-communist-Mamdani squad pushing out the Old Guard of the Democratic Party.
Who are the big winners?
The Republicans, of course. For the first time in years, if not decades, Republicans did not cave during a shutdown fight. They stated clearly their goals, they formulated the long-term strategy, and they followed Trump, not once caving in, even in the face of disappointing losses on November 4th. Republicans in Washington have grown enough of a spine, that the spin and shame from corporate media no longer affects them. They stand strong, build their polling numbers, and march into 2026 with the wind at their backs to keep the House of Representatives and hold the US Senate (if not grow their numbers).
Biggest Losers?
Chuck Schumer. This fight was do or die for him. He could not allow any budget or continuing resolution to pass without getting something on the Obamacare subsidies. After forty days and burning political capital with members of his minority conference, Schumer had to stand by and watch his ranks bail on him and pass the Republican-led CR.
Public employees, Democratic dependents, and federal contracts suffered for forty days, and all they got was … nothing.
Schumer’s days are numbered. I predict he will resign before the end of the year, give up his Senate seat for Hochul to appoint AOC, and the Democratic Party will further cement its lecherous lurch to the Left, further damaging its chance going into Election 2026.
Editor’s Note: After more than 40 days of screwing Americans, a few Dems have finally caved. The Schumer Shutdown was never about principle—just inflicting pain for political points.
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