New Hampshire Becomes Ground Zero for Democrats’ Battle Over Shutdown Politics

MANCHESTER, N.H. — New Hampshire’s two Democratic senators angered much of their party when they helped negotiate an end to the recent record-setting government shutdown — and some senators who likely harbor presidential ambitions have made that criticism a centerpiece of their public appearances in the early-voting state.

Sens. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Cory Booker of New Jersey, both likely 2028 contenders, visited New Hampshire this past week to voice concerns with their colleagues and the party, without explicitly mentioning Sens. Maggie Hassan or Jeanne Shaheen.

While their approaches were different — Murphy was very direct in his animosity toward his colleagues and how the shutdown ended, and Booker was cautious not to ruffle too many feathers — their dissatisfaction was clear.

“There are a lot of people shaking their heads as to what happened in Washington over the last seven days,” Murphy said Wednesday at a town hall at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics. “I do think it’s really important to talk to you for just a second about what leadership looks like in this moment, about what the obligation is of the Senate, and in particular of the Senate Democratic caucus. I’m just going to be honest with you, we need to do better.”

Booker, with Shaheen’s husband sitting in the front row, compared the eight Democrats who agreed to the deal to a football team that just gave up a bad play: It happened, now move on and score on the next drive.

“I’m not happy about it,” Booker said at a town hall at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics on Friday. “I think we lost yardage, and the kind of large yards we lost is not a game; it’s our health care. But that play is over. I need everyone, no matter how you voted, we need to get back in the huddle, because the stakes are so high.”

Their statements drew applause despite Shaheen and Hassan being two of the lead negotiators.

The deal, which funds the government through the end of January and passed three appropriations bills, received intense backlash because it did not extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that Democrats said were the reason they allowed the shutdown to occur.

Booker and Murphy were not alone. The majority of the 2028 slate of potential Democratic candidates highly criticized the vote to reopen the government.

“I’m not coming in to punch anybody in the face, but I’m not pleased that, in the face of this invasive species that is Donald Trump, who’s completely changed the rules of the game, that we’re still playing by the old rules of the game,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom told the Associated Press. “And in my core, I’m stunned.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has faced renewed scrutiny for his inability to keep his caucus unified in critical moments. Earlier this year, Schumer faced fury from progressive groups after he voted with Republicans to keep the government open, and he was under immense pressure to do more this time.

While he originally built up some goodwill for holding out and allowing the government to shut down, he is now under pressure for not keeping his caucus unified after eight Democrats voted for the deal.

Murphy sought to shift some of the blame away from Schumer and onto the eight Democrats who voted against the party to reopen the government, saying, “Any leader is going to be hamstrung by the rank and file that doesn’t understand the importance of unity at this moment.”

But Murphy still refused to explicitly back Schumer and equivocated when asked if he still had faith in Schumer’s leadership.

“We’ve got to be better, and he’s either got to, you know, he has an opportunity, and his leadership team has an opportunity to sort of prove that we can repair from the damage that we have done to our cause,” Murphy said. “But yeah, we’ve got to have this conversation in the caucus very quickly.”

Shaheen and Hassan defended their roles in negotiating the deal during speeches at the Eleanor Roosevelt Dinner for the New Hampshire Democratic Party.

“We can’t negotiate with somebody who doesn’t care about the American people, and as Democrats, we can’t do that,” Shaheen said. “We can’t let people go hungry. We can’t let federal workers go without pay. We can’t create continued chaos in the skies. And waiting another week or another month would not deliver a better deal. It would only mean more harm for families in New Hampshire and across this country.”

Some attendees did not approve of Shaheen’s vote and made their dissatisfaction known. While she was advocating for the Senate to pass an extension of the enhanced ACA subsidies, one attendee yelled, “Why did you vote for it then?” referring to the continuing resolution.

Shaheen quickly responded.

“You look at our record, and you tell me what you’ve done to protect the health care of Americans, and it’s not even close to what we’ve done,” she said.