Six House Democrats defied Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Wednesday night to support a Senate-passed deal to end the 43-day government shutdown.
Although Jeffries has tried to limit defections, a handful of centrist Democrats, who represent all of the seats won by President Donald Trump in 2024, have crossed party lines to support reopening the government. The group cited the toll the 43-day shutdown inflicted on its constituents, undermining claims by Democratic leaders that the record funding shortfall deserved to be extended. (RELATED: Democrats who voted against funding the government are suddenly hysterical about the ‘harm’ the shutdown could cause)
Jeffries told reporters Tuesday that he “strongly expected” his conference to oppose the funding plan to reopen the government. Democrats’ key demand — an expansion of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) premium enhanced tax credits — was not included in the bipartisan package.
“As House Democrats, we strongly oppose this reckless Republican effort to continue to increase the high cost of living for ordinary Americans, which is exactly what they are doing by not extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits,” Jeffries told reporters Tuesday.
Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Greg Steube of Florida were the only Republicans to oppose the funding plan.
Jared Golden, Maine Representative
Golden first voted in favor of the spending package after being the only Democratic lawmaker to break ranks and support the Republican-backed Continuing Resolution (CR) in September. The Maine Democrat also strongly criticized the party leadership in early October for shutting down the government in order to curry favor with “far left” groups.
Golden, a moderate Democrat who has consistently won in a Republican-leaning district, announced he would not seek re-election on November 5. Maine’s 2nd Congressional District — which Trump won by nine percentage points in 2024 — will likely be a prime opportunity for Republicans with Golden’s retirement announcement.
“I just voted to reopen the government, pay federal workers, and restart food assistance and other essential programs,” Golden said in a statement posted to social media after the vote.
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, Washington Representative
Gluesenkamp Perez, a moderate lawmaker representing a battleground district won by Trump by 3 points, accused Democrats’ shutdown strategy of “holding hungry Americans hostage” in a statement after the vote.
“The last few weeks have been a case study in why most Americans can’t stand Congress,” Gluesenkamp Perez wrote on X. “None of my friends who rely on SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] would like to trade their dinner for an ambiguous “message victory” on the DC beltway and I’m glad that ugly scene is in the rearview mirror.
She notably missed the vote on the bill supported by the Republicans in September to avoid a government shutdown. The Washington Democrat later said she would have supported the stopgap spending bill.
New York Representative Tom Suozzi
Suozzi said he voted for the Senate-passed funding package because he believes his Republican colleagues “want to do something” to extend the ACA’s enhanced premium tax credits.
“If my colleagues across the aisle are willing to work together to solve this health insurance affordability crisis by extending premium tax credits, then we will have accomplished something meaningful,” Suozzi wrote on X after the vote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has not committed to voting on an extension bill.
The New York Democrat, who represents a Long Island-based seat that Trump won by four points in 2024, notably opposed the September funding plan aimed at averting a government shutdown.
WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 14: Todd Lyons (R), Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), speaks with Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) as he arrives for a hearing before the House Appropriations Committee on Capitol Hill on May 14, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Texas Representative Henry Cuellar
Cuellar praised the Senate’s bipartisan agreement to end the shutdown on Sunday, noting that it will “provide relief” to furloughed public workers in his district and allow for a vote on an ACA subsidy bill.
“The government shutdown has made life more difficult for South Texas families,” Cuellar wrote in a statement after the vote.
He had already voted with almost all Democrats against government funding in September. The Texas Democrat was indicted last year on federal corruption charges and is awaiting criminal trial.
Trump won Cuellar’s current district by seven points in 2024. After Texas’ mid-decade redistricting, he is running for re-election in a seat that Trump won by 10 points.
North Carolina Representative Don Davis
Davis, who voted against government funding in September because of Democrats’ health care demands, said he changed his position Wednesday to “alleviate the suffering” of families in his district.
Roll Call named Davis as the most vulnerable incumbent House speaker running for re-election. North Carolina Republicans redrew the state’s congressional map in October to move Davis’ seat firmly into the Republican column. Even if Trump won the rural Davis district by three points in 2024, his new district would have supported the president by 12 points.
California Representative Adam Gray
Gray, a freshman lawmaker representing a purple district that Trump won by more than five points in 2024, pointed to the spending package funding federal food aid through September 2026 to justify his “yes” vote.
“Shutting down the government doesn’t make anyone freer, more prosperous or safer,” Gray wrote in an opinion piece for the California-based Turlock Journal explaining his vote. “It just makes life harder for people who are already carrying too much.”
Andi Shae Napier and Caden Olson contributed to this report.
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