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Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is facing calls for his ouster from some Democrats angry with the shutdown deal.<\/span>Kevin Dietsch\/Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n On Monday night, <\/span>the Senate passed<\/a> a bill that marks the first step towards potentially reopening the government after the 42-day shutdown. <\/p>\n For Democrats, the bill comes with a major cost: It does nothing to address the rapidly-approaching expiration of Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies which, according<\/a> to health policy think tank KFF, will more than double<\/a> enrollees\u2019 monthly premiums. While Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has pledged to hold a vote on the issue next month, it\u2019s unlikely to pass in any form Democrats would want in the Republican-controlled Congress, and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has refused to commit<\/a> to holding a vote on the matter in the House. (Spokespeople for Thune did not respond to a request for comment.) <\/p>\n But the 60-to-40 vote passed thanks to seven Democrats, and one Democrat-aligned independent, who defected to pass the bill. As Mother Jones<\/em>\u2018 editor-in-chief Clara Jeffery pointed out<\/a> on Bluesky, none of the lawmakers are up for reelection next year. The officials have said<\/a> they cast their votes because Americans were already being harmed by the shutdown\u2014low-income Americans have gone without<\/a> food stamps and flights have been delayed<\/a> at the busiest time of year for holiday travel\u2014and they felt confident in Republicans\u2019 commitment to give them a later vote on extending the ACA subsidies. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), one of the defectors, also cited the fact that the bill has a provision to rehire federal employees who lost their jobs during the shutdown and to provide back pay to those who had been furloughed.<\/p>\n Predictably, all this has caused even more<\/em> infighting among Democrats, who have already been sparring over their party\u2019s future following President Donald Trump\u2019s reelection and the party\u2019s subsequent internal reckoning over how it happened. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called it<\/a> \u201ca very bad vote,\u201d and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said<\/a>, \u201cthere\u2019s no way to defend this.\u201d Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) told Axios<\/em> the bill is \u201ccomplete BS,\u201d while Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) said it \u201csounds like a lousy deal to me.\u201d Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer<\/a> (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries<\/a> (D-N.Y.) have also opposed the bill for failing to address the expiring ACA subsidies\u2014but Schumer is also facing<\/a> blowback from congressional Democrats who say<\/a> the defection of some members proves he is not up to the task of leading Democrats in the Senate. (A spokesperson for Schumer did not respond to a request for comment.)<\/p>\n Mother Jones <\/em>readers are also, overall, quite angry about the Democrats\u2019 response. When I asked subscribers to our daily email newsletter<\/a> yesterday to weigh in with their thoughts, we received a flood of replies. Many described being, as one anonymous reader put it, \u201cmad as hell.\u201d Reader Andrea Scharf called the vote \u201cdisgraceful\u201d and \u201canother show of weakness.\u201d Tom Chojnacki wrote: \u201cThose Democrats are weak minded cowards. They are aiding and abetting the Republicans goal of remaking the US into an oligarchy.\u201d<\/p>\n The word \u201cspineless\u201d came up frequently to describe the eight defectors: Steve Anchell said, \u201cI think they are spineless cretins that don\u2019t deserve to hold public office. The only thing they seem to be good at is begging for campaign money.\u201d Angela Ross wrote: \u201cI THINK THEY ARE SPINELESS, MEALY MOUTHED, BLOOD SUCKING, TWO FACED BOTTOM FEEDERS.\u201d <\/p>\n Several joined in the calls for Schumer to be ousted as the Senate Minority Leader. Eileen, who did not give her last name, said Schumer \u201cneeds to hand over the minority leader position to a Democrat who will fight tooth and nail.\u201d<\/p>\n Other said the defectors were mistaken to believe the Republicans would actually vote to extend the ACA subsidies. \u201cTrump and the GOP have time and time again broken promises.\u00a0They will do so again,\u201d wrote David Clayman. \u201cThe pain inflicted upon the populace has been in vain.\u201d <\/p>\n Some, like Grace Hammond, said they believed the Democrats gave up leverage they had following their spate of wins in last week\u2019s elections. \u201cDemocrats had clear, tangible leverage for the first time in this fight, undeniable pressure, and they cave,\u201d Hammond wrote. \u201cI was having a glimmer of hope after the elections,\u201d Suzann Cornell said. \u201cNow that we caved, those hopes are dashed again.\u201d (Polling also showed<\/a> that most Americans blamed<\/a> Republicans, not Democrats, for the shutdown.)<\/p>\n A smaller group of respondents, such as Kathy Walker, reported having \u201cmixed feelings\u201d due to \u201ctoo many people suffering\u201d during the shutdown. Some readers reported already feeling those effects themselves.<\/p>\n \u201cOur son and wife will be unable to afford medical insurance until next year when they will qualify for Medicare. In the meantime, I, nearly 90, will have to help them pay their premiums from my Social Security benefits,\u201d wrote Dell Erwin.<\/p>\n Michelle Mellon said her family\u2019s premiums will triple next year, adding, \u201cIt\u2019s this politicized, short-term, zero-sum thinking that\u2019s going to be our downfall as a nation.\u201d Christine Morrissey said the premium increases \u201care forcing families, including mine, to cancel insurance policies in favor of paying for energy costs, grocery costs, rent costs, mortgage costs, and home owner\u2019s insurance costs, all [of] which have also increased since Trump became president.\u201d<\/p>\n A handful of anonymous readers shared stories about how ACA subsidies helped them, and their family members, receive necessary treatment and medications. Without the subsidies, they wrote, they will lose their coverage, and potentially their health. As one put it: \u201cI am distraught. I feel betrayed by the Democratic Party.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n