Senate Democrats have laid the groundwork throughout August to make this fall’s government-funding fight all about health care.
Yet Democrats still need to decide how far to take this clash — and whether they’re willing to force a government shutdown.
Democratic senators have held hundreds of events back home during the recess, mostly focused on the hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid cuts included in President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” This recess agenda was a deliberate push by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
But there are differing views among Senate Democrats about whether to lay out specific demands in exchange for their votes, which are needed to avoid a shutdown after government funding runs out on Oct. 1. Soon-to-expire Obamacare premium tax credits are also part of that discussion.
This funding deadline is Democrats’ first real leverage point since March. As you’ll recall, that March funding fight didn’t go well for Schumer and the Democratic Caucus.
Led by Schumer, a bloc of 10 Democrats provided the votes to pass a GOP-authored stopgap funding bill, arguing that a shutdown so soon after Trump took office would hurt them — and the country — more than Republicans.
This became a huge political problem for Schumer. Progressives who wanted to see Democrats play hardball were particularly livid. And they’re eager for a do-over in September.
Fault lines. While some Senate Democrats are already setting the stage for a shutdown showdown with the GOP, others want to maintain the bipartisan nature of the funding process — and get their own earmarks, too. Senate GOP leaders have said they want to use the Appropriations Committee’s funding bills as the basis for an end-of-September funding package.
This could also help pit House Republicans against Senate Republicans over FY2026 spending. House GOP leaders have followed the White House’s “skinny” budget proposal, which calls for big cuts to social programs while boosting defense, border security and veterans’ spending, infuriating Democrats. Meanwhile, Senate appropriators have proposed bipartisan bills with small spending increases across the board.
“I think it’s important that we do the best we can to work across the aisle to get things done for the American people. There is another view on that,” Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) said at a Medicaid-focused event in Phoenix last week, acknowledging the “unconventional” and “often illegal” actions of the Trump administration.
“We are in uncharted territory,” Kelly added. “But I still believe it is in the best interest of our country to do as much as we can in a bipartisan way.”
At a similar event in Nevada, Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) — who won reelection last year despite Trump’s victory in the Silver State — said the most effective strategy for Democrats to push back is to highlight the local impacts.
“Those are the best ways for us to fight back and call upon the better angels of my colleagues in Washington who are turning a blind eye to regular people’s stories,” Rosen said. “We can’t let those die. Because those folks may die.”
This is news. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is already drawing a line in the sand: Democrats shouldn’t vote for any FY2026 funding bills unless the OBBB’s Medicaid cuts are rescinded.
“If Republicans want Senate Democrats to provide votes to fund the Trump administration, they can start by restoring the health care that they ripped away to finance more tax handouts for billionaires,” Warren told us. “This government funding fight is about saving health care and lowering costs for millions of Americans.”
There’s virtually no chance that Republicans will agree to upend a key portion of the bill they just passed. But Warren is reflecting a desire among the Democratic base to up the ante against an administration they see as acting beyond the bounds of the Constitution.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) has adopted a similar posture, saying earlier this month that it’ll be “tough” to get her vote without action on Medicaid.
Those frustrations are playing out on the campaign trail, too.
“Maybe there is a desire for business as usual. But business as usual is not gonna cut it right now,” said Mallory McMorrow, who’s running for Senate in a competitive Democratic primary in Michigan.
