After 43 days, the longest government shutdown in U.S. history may finally be winding down, but the problems facing low-income Americans are just beginning. Unfortunately, it seems that moderate congressional Democrats aren’t thinking about the bigger picture.

The U.S. Senate voted 60-40 on Nov. 10 to pass a funding package and end the shutdown, with eight Democrats bucking their party’s playbook and siding with Republicans. Now the GOP is poised to take away health care subsidies, which will result in higher insurance premiums for millions of people who rely on the Affordable Care Act.

Yet by ending the shutdown, Republicans and a handful of Democrats would be reinstating Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for millions of people, saving the jobs of thousands of federal workers who were laid off by President Donald Trump’s administration and returning air travel to a normal rhythm.

It’s an all-around infuriating situation: Republicans get exactly what they want yet again, while some Democrats are powerful enough to ignore their party’s long-term strategy.

In this scenario, the people who rely on the government for assistance in any capacity seem to be the only folks who lose.

Democrats caved on the shutdown at the exact wrong time

Early on in the shutdown, which began Oct. 1, I wrote that congressional Democrats should own the messaging. The party needed to explain to the American people that the dysfunction was entirely the fault of a Republican Party so morally bankrupt that it would rather send the country into indefinite chaos than make health insurance more affordable for millions of people.

For more than a month, Democrats held the line and refused to cave to the GOP. Until, that is, some Democrats decided to ignore the party’s game plan and voted with the Republican Party out of some sense of duty, which means that Republicans are likely to take away the ACA subsidies that ignited the shutdown in the first place.

“We need to find a way forward because I strongly, strongly support those tax credits to make health care more affordable,” Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania, said in a recent CBS News interview. “But I just refuse to shut our government down and hold our government hostage.”

It’s a nice sentiment from Fetterman, but it disregards the party’s strategy. He and other moderate Democrats are refusing to acknowledge that the promised December vote on those tax credits is likely going to be another win for Republicans – meaning Americans who rely on Obamacare for health insurance will face higher premiums in 2026.

This betrayal by moderate Democrats is further revealing fault lines within the party. Members from across the party’s political spectrum – from longtime Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren to New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill – have criticized the members of the party who capitulated to Republicans.

Some Democrats are putting some of the blame on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, and are right to do so. Schumer is the leader of the party, and he should be running a tight ship. Yet I don’t think the entire blame is Schumer’s to bear – at the end of the day, these moderate Democrats should understand not to trust the empty promises of Republicans who have no desire to maintain the social safety net.

Americans on SNAP, health care subsidies will lose the most

The funding package approved on Nov. 10 now heads to the House of Representatives, where it’s likely to pass without the support of Democrats. In December, senators will vote on the COVID-19-era tax credits at the center of the shutdown – and Republicans will likely get their way.

What’s frustrating more than anything is that Republicans are coming out of this essentially unscathed, even though the Trump administration didn’t want to even partially fund SNAP benefits and attempted to fire thousands of workers while the government was shut down. It does not matter that they hurt the very people who vote for them by refusing to compromise.

The shutdown saga proved that while Republicans have no decency, some Democrats have no backbone. What should have been a moment to force Republicans to compromise became a moment for a handful of Democrats to play hero while leaving the party at a disadvantage. No one wins, and the American people lose.

Follow USA TODAY columnist Sara Pequeño on X, formerly Twitter: @sara__pequeno

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Democrats botched their own shutdown. Low-income Americans will pay the price. | Opinion

Reporting by Sara Pequeño, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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