Senate Dems emboldened in shutdown strategy after election sweep

By Fox News · Fox News

Senate Democrats are riding high after a wave of victories on Election Day and view Democratic candidates’ performances as an indicator that their shutdown strategy is working. As the government shutdown officially entered record-breaking territory in its 36th day, Senate Democrats felt emboldened by the election results, and saw the blowout wins across the country as an indictment against President Donald Trump and Republicans, particularly on the matter of expiring Obamacare premium subsidies. Still, some Senate Democrats are mulling an off-ramp from the shutdown and considering an offer from Republicans that would guarantee them a vote on the expiring subsidies in exchange for supporting the House-passed continuing resolution (CR). SENATE DEMOCRATS EYE EXIT FROM RECORD-BREAKING SHUTDOWN AS PRESSURE INTENSIFIES But some warn that caving now for the promise of a vote would be the wrong move. "If they cave now and go forward with a meaningless vote, I think it will be a horrible policy decision, and I think politically, to the Democrats," Sen. Bernie Sanders , I-Vt., said. "And you know, they're going to come into the 2026 election. Some of you may have heard the expression, when we fight, we win. You ever hear that? Well, when you cave, you lose." Some Republicans fear that the election may have caused Senate Democrats to dig deeper into their position and remain united in their shutdown game plan. President Donald Trump, during a breakfast at the White House with the Senate GOP Wednesday morning, contended that the "shutdown was a big factor, negative for the Republicans," on election night. "I think the Democrats, you know, may feel emboldened by it, but I think that people are going to get past election results fairly quickly and start remembering that they've just unilaterally decided to shut down the government," Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital. "So I think it could be maybe a weak bump, but at the end of the day, we're going to get back to th…