Eight Senate Democrats are currently voting to advance a compromise funding package without securing commitments on health care costs or key protections for working families. A final vote is expected tonight or in the early hours of the morning, but it is all but guaranteed to pass.
Tonight, in an exclusive interview, Ezra Levin, co-founder and co–executive director of Indivisible, laid out the group’s plan to launch the largest primary program in its history. The message from Indivisible’s leadership is clear: if Democrats won’t fight, the movement will find candidates who will.
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“Democrats surrendered — again”
Levin didn’t hide his frustration with Senate leadership.
“Chuck Schumer and a critical mass of Senate Democrats surrendered,” he said. “For nearly six weeks, Republicans held the government hostage while threatening health care, food assistance, and basic services for millions of Americans. In these six weeks, Democrats had their best election night in more than a decade, polls showed Republicans were losing the shutdown fight, and their base turned out for the largest protest in modern U.S. history. Instead of standing with that energy, Senate Democrats surrendered — yet again.”
It was a blunt assessment, but one that echoes frustration across progressive circles. According to Indivisible’s most recent movement-wide survey, 98.67 percent of respondents wanted Senate Democrats to keep fighting rather than accept a compromise without concessions.
The largest primary program the organization has ever run
Indivisible’s response is not symbolic. It marks a strategic shift toward challenging incumbents who the group sees as unwilling to stand up to Republican brinkmanship.
The upcoming primary effort will be guided by Indivisible’s nationwide grassroots network, which is already mobilizing to identify, recruit, and support progressive challengers. Local Indivisible groups will play a key role in determining where resources should be deployed and which races show the strongest potential for replacing status-quo Democrats with candidates who are willing to take harder stances on democracy, economic justice, and health care.
“Ahead of the 2026 primaries, we’re supporting progressive fighters who are ready to challenge feckless, status-quo-loving incumbents,” Levin said. “People want leaders who will fight with conviction.”
The political landscape shifts as Congress moves toward a deal
As Congress edges toward a deal to reopen the government, another provision in the sprawling funding package set off a new round of controversy on Capitol Hill. Buried in the legislative branch spending measure is a sweeping legal shield that would allow senators to sue the government for up to $500,000 each if federal investigators obtain their phone records without notifying them.
The measure appears tailored to directly benefit eight Republican senators whose phone metadata was subpoenaed as part of former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the January 6 attack and efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election. Because the provision is retroactive to 2022, those lawmakers would immediately qualify to sue the government.
The bill declares it unlawful for federal agencies to acquire or subpoena a senator’s phone metadata without notification, except in limited circumstances such as a 60-day delay when a senator is the target of an investigation. It also strips away key government defenses, including claims of qualified or sovereign immunity.
Meanwhile, the Senate has begun a series of votes expected to culminate in passage of a bipartisan funding agreement to reopen the federal government. If approved, the House will need to return to Washington to adopt the measure before it heads to President Donald Trump’s desk.
Trump signaled this afternoon that he supports the Senate’s deal, which would reopen the government in exchange for a future vote on extending enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies. Those subsidies, temporarily expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic, are set to expire at the end of the year, and renewing them has become a central demand for Democrats.
But House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) threw cold water on that hope almost immediately.
Asked whether he would commit to giving Democrats a vote on extending the ACA subsidies, Johnson flatly replied: “No, because we did our job, and I’m not part of the negotiation.”
He added, “I’m not promising anybody anything. I’m going to let this process play out.”
Senate Democrats have repeatedly blocked short-term funding bills, insisting that any agreement to reopen the government must include movement on health care affordability. With the shutdown dragging into its sixth week, the stakes have only grown.
Real-world consequences deepen
While Congress battles over political leverage, millions of Americans continue to feel the strain.
• A federal appeals court rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to block the full payout of November food stamp benefits, though many recipients remain stuck in administrative limbo.
• Airports reported the worst weekend for air-traffic-control staffing since the shutdown began, raising concerns about travel safety and delays during an already stressful season.
• Federal workers and contractors have now missed paychecks for more than a month, with ripple effects spreading through local economies nationwide.
These pressures have intensified calls for Democrats to secure real policy concessions before reopening the government. But the final Senate vote suggests that the eight Democratic Senators have instead opted to end the shutdown without locking in those guarantees.
A base that wants a fight, and a movement preparing to deliver one
Levin emphasized that the energy among Indivisible’s supporters is not rooted in purity politics or ideological posturing. It’s about urgency.
“They wanted Senate Democrats to fight because families needed them to fight,” he said. “This was about health care, food assistance, and democratic accountability. When leadership won’t stand with the people who elected them, those people will find new leaders.”
With the 2026 primaries already casting a shadow over Washington’s decisions, Indivisible’s announcement signals a new phase of grassroots influence, one that could reshape the Democratic Party from the inside.
As the Senate moves toward passing the compromise package, the broader political consequences are only beginning to unfold. For millions still reeling from the shutdown, and for the lawmakers now facing energized primary challenges, tonight’s developments mark a turning point.
Indivisible is betting that the next chapter won’t be written in the Senate chamber, but in the primaries to come.
