Here Is the Re-Election Status of the Democratic Senators Who Caved

Also, Adelita Grijalva either gets sworn in, or the shutdown continues

In case you haven’t heard, a few moderate Democratic Senators and one Independent who caucuses with them (Angus King of Maine), decided that a painful 40-day shutdown should all be for naught, and essentially caved to the regime.

Maybe, realistically, this was the best outcome. Who knows? It’s possible that Russell Vought and Trump would be willing to burn the country to the ground to make a point while people starve.

The good news is that now, Mike Johnson has to finally seat Adelita Grijalva, who recently won a House seat in Arizona and would become the magic 218th vote needed to force a vote on the Epstein Files, which sound worse for American politicians on both sides of the aisle (but mostly Republicans) than we may have first anticipated.

Johnson has refused to seat her because he’s terrified of the Epstein Files. So terrified that it’s fair to wonder if he’ll refuse to take the shutdown question to a vote.

I’ll be honest. I don’t know how I feel about the final result of all this. I didn’t want them to cave, but SNAP recipients need food. And the Epstein Files need to be released.

But if you’re pissed, here is the election status of the Senators who ignored the bulk of the Democratic base and did their own thing.¹

None are up for reelection in 2026.

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois

Retiring — no reelection

Durbin is retiring. Sorry, no retribution possible here.

Durbin is the minority whip, which is the party leader who helps the majority leader (in this case, Chuck Schumer) “whip up” votes for the cause the majority leader is trying to accomplish. Obviously, this is a big fail, since Schumer voted “No,” unless conspiracy theorists are right, saying that what Schumer really meant was “yes” and asked for volunteers to lie under the bus tires for him.

Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania

Up for re-election in 2028

Well, of course he did. Fetterman has turned from the cool dude who doesn’t play dress up in the Senate to an absolute clown show. It’s a bummer, but such is life.

He’s voted to end the shutdown on every vote. He was already a target for the primaries.

Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire

Up for re-election in 2028

Hassan had been at the forefront of the Affordable Care negotiations, so her cave-in was surprising. She told reporters on Sunday that she was torn between the urgency of the hunger of constituents not receiving SNAP benefits and the huge premium hikes on the ACA marketplace.

Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia

Up for re-election in 2030

Kaine wouldn’t get punished for this even if he were up for reelection this year. There are about 150,000 federal workers in his district. He told reporters: “This legislation will protect federal workers from baseless firings, reinstate those who have been wrongfully terminated during the shutdown, and ensure federal workers receive back pay.”

You can be mad at him, but there are probably more realistic targets for your wrath.

Sen. Angus King of Maine

Up for re-election in 2030

A lot can happen between now and 2030. This is another one you can’t do much about.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada

Up for re-election in 2028

She voted 15 times to end the federal government shutdown, so she epitomizes the concept of “Surrender in Advance.”

It’s never too early to think about primaries for someone who is up for re-election in 2028.

Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada

Up for re-election in 2030

Also newly elected. Also, not sure what can be done. Send her mean letters?

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire

Retiring — no reelection

To her credit, Shaheen was the original sponsor of the Obamacare tax credits bill that is in the middle of this mess. Her many critics sort of miss this point. For her to give up the fight and hope for better days couldn’t have been easy.

In her words:

“This was the only deal on the table. It was our best chance to reopen the government and immediately begin negotiations to extend the ACA tax credits,”

Besides, no retribution is possible. She’s retiring.

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Overall, I’m not as freaked out about this as a lot of folks. People are going hungry. The underlying problem is that the Republicans are in control of all three branches of government.

The Democratic victories in November were not wasted. Don’t let people tell you they were. That is also surrendering in advance. Keep up the voting momentum, and keep electing people who you think can better represent you at the lower levels of government so that a bench of better candidates can run for the Senate down the road.

But also, listen to those who are pissed. Jay Kuo represents their points well in his latest post:

A deal only offering a commitment to hold a vote gives away everything for nothing. When the only deal on the table is a shit sandwich, the correct response is to get up from the table and walk away. Smearing some mayonnaise on that shit sandwich isn’t going to make it more palatable.

Instead, these Democrats gave up the only leverage available to them: the filibuster. We all understood from the beginning that this was going to be hard. Millions would go without paychecks. And later tens of millions would go without food. That is what a strike, which is what this basically was, feels like. It sucks.

Here is his post in full:

The Surrender Caucus

Yeah, I’m being very mid here. I can’t lie about where I’m at, though. It’s a terrible situation all the way around, and we will face a lot more of these terrible situations until we remove the regime from power.

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Footnotes

1. Tully-McManus, Katherine. 2025. “The 8 Senate Democratic Caucus Members Who Voted to End the Shutdown.” POLITICO. Politico. November 10, 2025. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/09/senate-democrats-shutdown-vote-00644146.