Progressive Democrats turn on party leadership after government shutdown ends without healthcare guarantees
Several Democrats broke ranks with their party to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history in a move that has triggered backlash from rising progressive stars, including Rep. Alexandria...
By Fox News · Fox News
Several Democrats broke ranks with their party to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history in a move that has triggered backlash from rising progressive stars, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , D-N.Y., who questioned whether the 43-day standoff had been worth it. The intraparty revolt has exposed a widening rift between Democratic leadership and its left flank, as progressive candidates accused Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer , D-N.Y., of surrendering leverage to Republicans and President Donald Trump in exchange for a funding deal that left key healthcare priorities unresolved. "We have federal workers across the country that have been missing paychecks. We have SNAP recipients, millions of SNAP recipients across the country whose access to food stability was imperiled, and we have to figure out what that was for," Ocasio-Cortez said, before adding, "We cannot enable this kind of cruelty with our cowardice." Back on the campaign trail, several Democrats running in next year’s midterm elections blasted colleagues who voted to reopen the government without extending the pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies — the key provision they’ve pushed for since the shutdown began on Oct. 1. GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN 101: WE'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE, HERE'S WHAT HAPPENS NEXT Aftyn Behn, the Democratic nominee to represent Tennessee's 7th Congressional District who has been described as the "AOC of TN," said the shutdown ending proved "we need a new generation of leadership in Washington" and criticized the "career politicians" who caved without a guarantee to vote on ACA subsidies from House Speaker Mike Johnson , R-La. SCHUMER PUSHES SHUTDOWN INTO RECORD BOOKS AFTER REJECTING GOP BILL A 14TH TIME Saikat Chakrabarti, Ocasio-Cortez's former chief of staff who is running to replace House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi in her congressional district in San Francisco, agreed those Democrats who "caved" to Trump to reopen the government proved "we need a new generation of lead…