Shutdown deal reopens Democratic rift: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, a newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.

In today’s edition, our Capitol Hill team has the latest on the political fallout from the deal to end the government shutdown and what comes next. Plus, Lawrence Hurley runs through a trio of notable developments at the Supreme Court.

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— Adam Wollner

Senate deal to end the shutdown reopens Democratic rift

The longest government shutdown in U.S. history may finally be coming to an end. But the Democratic infighting is only just beginning.

Over the weekend, a group of eight Senate Democrats teamed up with Republicans to vote to advance a measure that would reopen the government. The agreement still needs final approval in the Senate and then a vote in the House before President Donald Trump can sign it into law.

The details: As Frank Thorp V, Sahil Kapur and Brennan Leach note, the agreement contains three full-year appropriations bills that will fund certain agencies like the Agriculture Department through the end of the fiscal year next fall, as well as a continuing resolution to fund the rest of the government at existing spending levels through Jan. 30, 2026.

The deal also fully funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program through next September, and reverses Trump’s attempted layoffs of federal workers during the shutdown through “reduction in force” notifications.

But in a major concession from Democrats, it does not include an extension of expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies.

The eight: Here are the Senate Democrats who voted with Republicans: Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire; Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen of Nevada; Dick Durbin of Illinois; John Fetterman of Pennsylvania; Tim Kaine of Virginia; and Angus King of Maine (an independent who caucuses with the Democrats).

One thing they all have in common, in addition to being from the more moderate wing of the party: None will face voters in the 2026 midterm elections. Durbin and Shaheen are not running for re-election, while the others wouldn’t be up again until 2028 or 2030. Plus, Cortez Masto, Fetterman and King had been consistently voting over the past month for the GOP’s stopgap funding bill.

The backlash: The agreement has sparked heavy criticism from congressional candidates, progressive activists and other Democratic lawmakers, Sahil, Brennan and Lillie Boudreaux report, reigniting a debate within the party about how to most effectively oppose Trump and the GOP. They argue the eight Senate Democrats are caving as the party had political momentum, pointing to last week’s elections and polls showing that the public placed more blame on Republicans for the shutdown.

Even though Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., criticized the agreement and voted against it, he is drawing ire. Senate Democratic candidates, including Michigan’s Mallory McMorrow, Iowa’s Zach Wahls and Maine’s Graham Platner, used the episode to revive their calls for new party leadership in the Senate.

The timeline: The Senate is expected to hold a final vote on the bill to reopen the government tonight.

With flight delays showing no signs of abating, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., encouraged House Republicans earlier today to start getting back to Washington, per Melanie Zanona and Julie Tsirkin. Johnson also said he will swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., who won a special election on Sept. 23.

What Trump is saying: Asked if he backs the proposal, Trump said: “They want to change the deal a little bit but I would say so. Based on everything I’m hearing they haven’t changed anything. And we have support from enough Democrats, and we’re going to be opening up our country.”

Supreme Court rejects bid to overturn same-sex marriage ruling while taking up mail-in ballot case

It was also a busy day across the street from the Capitol. Lawrence Hurley wraps up the day’s developments at the Supreme Court.

Same-sex marriage: The court turned away a long-shot attempt to overturn the landmark 2015 ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

Without comment, the justices rejected an appeal brought by Kim Davis, a former county clerk in Kentucky who was sued in 2015 for refusing to issue marriage licenses because of her opposition to same-sex marriage based on her religious beliefs.

Her latest appeal in the case had attracted considerable attention amid fears that the court could overturn the 2015 same-sex marriage decision, Obergefell v. Hodges, in the aftermath of the 2022 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade.

Mail-in ballots: The court also agreed to consider whether federal law bars states from counting mail-in ballots that are received after Election Day.

The case pits Republican-led Mississippi, defending a state election law that allows for mail-in ballots received after Election Day to be counted, against the Republican National Committee and the state’s own Republican Party.

If the RNC’s argument were applied nationwide, it would upend election law in many states, which count ballots that come in after an election as long as they were postmarked on time. Many of those laws were designed to ensure that the votes of overseas military members who submit ballots from afar are counted.

A swift ruling could come in time to be applied in the 2026 midterm elections.

Religious freedom: Additionally, the court appeared unlikely to allow a devout Rastafarian to bring a damages claim against Louisiana prison officials who cut his dreadlocks in violation of his religious rights.

That’s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner.

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