Washington Examiner’s Byron York said Monday the split among Senate Democrats working with Republicans to reopen the government marks the latest in-party feud, predicting the in-fighting is “not going away.”
York said it is “incredible” how much changes over just a few days. Many said on Wednesday that the Democratic Party has “new momentum” after its sweeping victories in the 2025 elections. Five days later, however, the party was back in a “bitter civil war” after multiple Senate Democrats joined a 60-40 test vote to reopen the government.
“Well, these are tensions that always existed inside the Democratic Party between its progressive wing and a dwindling number of people who call themselves ‘centrists,’ and we just saw it. We basically have 40 Democrats in the Senate who wanted to hang tough and keep this shutdown going forever, apparently, and seven or eight of them who decided it was time to give in,” York said on Fox News’s America’s Newsroom.
“That’s the fight inside the Democratic Party, and it’s not going away all through their presidential nominating process,” York said.
Many Democrats are focusing their criticism on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and calling for his replacement, though he was not among the Democrats who voted with Senate Republicans. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), who is speculated to have his sights on the White House, did not mention Schumer in his criticism of Democrats on X, but said “[t]he American people need more from their leaders.”
York also said the end result of the Senate’s vote to end the shutdown has been clear “from day one,” being that the party losing a government shutdown tries to attach conditions to reopen the government. He added that the party attaching conditions is the same party that “always ends up giving up” due to the public’s shutdown fatigue.
“This one went longer than most, and the public is really tired of it,” York said.
SPANBERGER SAYS HER ELECTION WIN ‘ABSOLUTELY NOT’ EXCUSE FOR DEMOCRATS TO DRAG OUT SHUTDOWN
The eight senators who joined Republicans on the 60-40 vote were Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Angus King (I-ME). Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was the lone Republican senator who did not join his colleagues.
On Sunday night, Washington Examiner’s Samantha-Jo Roth said one thing the Democrats succeeded in with the shutdown is putting healthcare back in the national spotlight. She added that the party would need to determine its messaging on this topic and whether it could do so in a way to win voters ahead of the 2026 elections.