Trying to save a burning institution

Schumer and company are playing by rules that Republicans have shunned.

Well, Democrats in the Senate caved on the shutdown. The ending was probably never going to make many people happy, but Schumer and company look like they got nothing at all. The same deal has been on the table for weeks and they waited until now to take it. Republicans who claimed the shutdown was all about last week’s elections now have a talking a point.

It’s a bit remarkable to see Democrats fold so suddenly when the public is largely blaming Trump and the Republican Congress for the pain. Better negotiators could have extracted something from the GOP. Schumer and company are leaving Democrats demoralized in the wake of an impressively successful election.

Republicans are playing power politics while Democrats are still searching for bipartisanship. One supporter of the measure, Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, said, “It’s our responsibility to work not only here amongst ourselves, but across the aisle to solve these problems for the Americans, make their lives a little bit easier. And that’s what we have done tonight.”

Her statement seems almost quaint as the president pardons his political allies, sics the Justice Department on his political allies, sends National Guard troops into cities against the wishes of governors, and enacts tariffs at will, all without any Congressional oversight.

That said, maybe Schumer will come out looking good. The shutdown did make the public to pay more attention to the health care subsidies that are set to expire. Republicans will probably get the blame if people pay higher premiums. Maybe the GOP will cave in the next few weeks and agree to extend those subsidies. Otherwise, the whole thing looks like a pretty wasted exercise and opportunity, just like other shutdowns.

The shutdown is not going to have much affect on the overall political environment heading into the midterm elections. Most people won’t remember it happened a few months from now. However, it could reshape Democratic politics.

The anger over the deal is broader than just the usual suspects. Rank-and-file Democrats of all stripes are unhappy, including moderate Democrats in the House. Primary candidates who argue they will stand up to the GOP may fare better than those who say they will get things done. In dealing with Trump and this Congress, compromise increasingly looks like surrender.

Finally, the deal was probably made to protect the filibuster. As Politico reporter Jonathan Martin pointed out, Democrats were hoping to force Trump to the bargaining table. Instead, the president was pushing to end the filibuster to get his budget passed. The eight Senators who voted with Republicans are all institutionalists who want to protect the rules and decorum of the Senate. They don’t seem to realize that the institution is on fire despite the smoke filling their offices.

It’s time for generational change among Democrats in the U.S. Senate. They were never going to come out of the shutdown with a big policy win, but they might have come out with a big political win. Maybe they can still pull one out, but they appear to have folded, accepting a deal offered by Republicans, not one crafted by Democrats. In the age of power politics, touting bipartisanship with little to show for it looks like a loss.