Before Sunday night’s Senate vote cleared the way for legislation that would end the longest government shutdown in history, you got the sense the it would either be resolved quickly or extend into the holiday season. Why? Because the central announced goal for Democrats, the extension of Obamacare-premium subsidies , wasn’t happening and likely would never happen until such time as Donald Trump stepped in and forced a deal on MAGA Republicans.

With Trump showing zero signs of engagement, other than a petulant demand that the whole problem go away via the abolition of the filibuster, the choice for Democrats was binary. They could keep up the pressure until he came off the sidelines or end the shutdown to mitigate the pain being experienced by Democratic constituencies while prese

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