The United States Senate may be moving closer to finally ending the government shutdown – we're now on Day 41 – but questions are swirling about the eight Democrats who have crossed the aisle to vote with their Republican colleagues. Why these eight? What's their motivation? What took them so long?
As RedState's Joe Cunningham reported Sunday evening, the Senate finally reached the magic number of 60 – the number of votes needed to modify and approve the continuing resolution (CR) already passed by the House. After a final vote in the Senate, this updated CR will then need to go back to the House for a vote and to President Trump's desk for his signature, so the reopening of the government is still a ways away.
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While all of this is going on, the spotlight is shining brightly on the eight Democrats who caved.
Eight Democrats joined with a majority of Republicans to get the final vote count to 60. Those Democrats were Dirk Durbin of Illinois, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Angus King of Maine (technically an Independent but caucuses with the Democrats), Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, and Jacky Rosen of Nevada.
We on the right knew it was always going to end this way – the Democrats were always going to eventually vote for the CR, but were more than happy to inflict some pain on the American people while they dawdled. Those on the left are livid that so many Democrats caved – they are traitors who must be primaried and voted out of office! We can all probably agree on that.
One of the eight Democrats who sided with Senate Republicans, Virginia's Tim Kaine, was asked what took him so long to come around. The question was couched as why he didn't start looking for a health care "off-ramp" earlier in the process, but Kaine's answer says it all: he was "too focused on the Virginia elections" to really care what was happening to the American people.
REPORTER: "Do you wish that you would have started looking for this off-ramp sooner?"
— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 10, 2025
SENATOR KAINE: "I was so focused on the Virginia elections I wasn't in this discussion on the healthcare to see how dug in they were." pic.twitter.com/lSTUUmxNPq
Now, the answer is nonsense on its face. Tim Kaine was re-elected to the Senate last year and wasn't a particularly important player this year (other than raising money for the Democrat ticket). But, in trying to deflect, he revealed the very deep truth that the Democrat Party held the American people hostage all for political gain. The pain was the point, apparently.
Curiously, a week prior to admitting that he and his party happily put politics over people – and while he was so focused on the Virginia elections – the very same Tim Kaine told ABC News of his very deep concern for the welfare of his fellow citizens.
"I'm a United States senator," Kaine said. "And I -- yes, I run as a Democrat, and I'm a Democrat, but I just don't approach my work that way. So, when you ask what Democrats have gained, what we're -- what we're focused on is the American people. We want President Trump to stop firing people, canceling economic development projects. We want them to stop raising everybody's costs."
For those looking for a thread binding the eight Democrat "turncoats," here it is: none of them are currently up for reelection. Shaheen and Durbin are retiring, so it was easy for them to fall on their swords, and the rest are a few years away from having to fire up their campaign machines.
As for Tim Kaine, of course it was Sen. Doofus who said the quiet part out loud — the Democrat Party's priorities are always going to be the politics, not the people they represent. This supposed focus on elections while millions of Americans were caught in the crossfire of the Schumer Shutdown tells you everything you need to know about where his and his party's loyalties truly stand.
Editor's Note: This article was updated post-publication for clarity.
Editor’s Note: After more than 40 days of screwing Americans, a few Dems have finally caved. The Schumer Shutdown was never about principle—just inflicting pain for political points.
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