WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats were grim Friday as they left Washington after a brutal 10-week stretch that consistently showed the limits of their power in the minority — and culminated with a deeply personal rupture over how to best counter President Donald Trump.
‘‘Everyone made hard decisions, right? Really hard decisions,‘’ said Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado, of the position in which Democrats found themselves over the last week as they had to decide between voting for a Republican spending bill they hated and shutting down the government. ‘’It’s like two horrible things, and you can’t imagine either one.‘’
Internal dissension burst into the open Thursday evening after Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer announced he would vote to move forward on the Trump-backed spending measure, ensuring its eventual passage even though Democrats said it would give Trump broad discretion on decisions that are traditionally left to Congress.
The intraparty backlash was unusually swift as activists and House Democrats who had uniformly opposed the bill heaped criticism on Schumer. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Schumer’s New York colleague, joined other top party members in a statement saying, ‘’We will not be complicit."
The heat on Schumer came after several other Democratic setbacks in the dizzying weeks since Trump’s inauguration, and as Republicans have only become more unified under the president’s second term.
Republicans confirmed Trump’s entire Cabinet swiftly and with little internal disagreement, denying Democrats the needed votes to block nominees they saw as extreme, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Democrats were also unable to stop a series of moves by Trump’s administration that would normally be left to Congress under the law, including mass firings across the government. Adding to their challenges, the outlook for future Senate elections grew even gloomier after Democrats in three swing states — the latest being Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire — announced their retirement.
The days leading up to Friday’s vote on government spending were particularly bleak after several hourslong meetings that became contentious. Senate Democrats repeatedly left the meetings stone-faced and refusing to talk with reporters. The angst was particularly acute among rank-and-file who have spent years messaging about the perils of shutdowns.