Sen. Angus King and seven Democrats broke ranks to support the GOP’s government funding package, causing significant tension within the Democratic Party. Their decision to advance a short-term spending plan to reopen the government also exposed fractures in the party’s unity and leadership over the healthcare fight and shutdown strategy.
The eight critical votes that advanced a short-term spending package on Sunday evening and put the government on the path to re-opening also tore the seams of Democratic Party unity, bringing scrutiny to its shutdown strategy and leadership.
One of the eight said that the plan Democrats had rallied around at its outset had crumbled.