LinkedIn on Monday, November 10, 2025

I think the eight Democrats who voted with their Republican counterparts in the Senate to reopen the government – with the promise of a vote on medical insurance pricing, funding for SNAP and compensation for federal workers – did the right thing.

Far from the eight having caved, I see them as on the attack.  Being unwilling to hurt their fellow Americans any further, for minimal additional gain, was a practical, heartfelt, not cowardly solution that deserves our respect.  Having already made their point, it was time to adjust their tactics.

Think about what they’ve accomplished…

They’ve forced Johnson to reconvene the House – something that he and his puppeteer (President Trump) were clearly intent on putting off as long as possible.

If House Republicans vote against the Senate bill or, even worse, if Johnson refuses to allow the vote to which his Senate colleagues are committed, they’ll be no questioning which party is the problem.

Schumer will be replaced with more effective minority leadership in the Senate, an upgrade that’s long overdue.

And maybe, just maybe, they’ll be a new Speaker of the House.  All the House needs is nine Republicans to see the writing on the wall after elections that were just held on the fourth and move to vacate the position. Johnson’s a liar and a jerk – an obvious agent of President Trump who is preventing Congress from doing its job

And another Democratic will be admitted to the house, quite probably resulting in the release the Epstein files.

You disagree?  What would keeping our government closed have accomplished?

-Les