Liberal media figures turn on Democrats after controversial government shutdown vote with Republicans

Liberal media figures are calling out the Democratic Party after eight senators voted with the GOP on a plan to reopen the government, accusing the party of caving as they try to end the longest shutdown in history.

Ex-CNN host Don Lemon, "The View" co-hosts Sunny Hostin and Whoopi Goldberg, former CNN journalist Chris Cillizza and more were among members of the media lambasting the Democratic caucus members who voted to advance a plan to re-open the government on Sunday.

Sens. Angus King, I-Maine, John Fetterman, D-Pa., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., Tim Kaine, D-Va., and the number two Democrat in the Senate, Dick Durbin, D-Ill., broke with the rest of the Democrats on the funding vote. King is an independent who caucuses with Democrats.

Lemon posted on TikTok and said the Democrats "caved."

Whoopi Goldberg, Sunny Hostin and Don Lemon. (Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival; Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival; Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)

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Goldberg said during "The View" on Monday, "eight Senate Democrats threw in the towel by siding with the GOP to advance a vote that could lead to the government reopening."

Others specifically took aim at Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the Senate minority leader.

Hostin said, "Shame on you the first time. You do it twice, three times, four times, shame on me. Shame on the Democrats for even believing that the Republicans will, you know, even vote on it."

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"So the bottom line is, the Democrats went into, after a blue wave, the American people saying, 'We do want [an] opposition.' The working people want the Democratic Party to fight for them. And now, they just caved and surrendered. I think Chuck Schumer — his days are over. And if he cannot keep his caucus together, he needs to go. He needs to be replaced," she added.

Dean Obeidallah, a left-wing radio host, said Schumer was "done" during an appearance on MSNBC on Sunday.

"He’s just not the right person at the right time. We’re going to a different time. You’re dealing with a GOP that’s an anti-democratic movement. They don’t care what the American people think on an issue like this. So I think honestly, this is the end of Chuck Schumer as we go forward," Obeidallah said.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) walks to speak at a news conference following the weekly Senate Democratic policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on June 17, 2025, in Washington, D.C.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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Former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan, who founded Zeteo, also called on Schumer to resign in a post on social media.

Some Democratic lawmakers also called for Schumer to step down.

"Senator Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced. If you can’t lead the fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for?" Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif, said in a post on social media on Sunday.

Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., also said in a post that the vote was "another example of why we need new leadership."

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., speaks at a campaign event for Zohran Mamdani in New York City on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025.  (Christian Monterrosa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Cillizza said in a post to his Substack that he was "stunned" by senators' decision to advance the plan to end the shutdown. In his headline, Cillizza called the move "utterly baffling."

"So the plan and the deal that Democrats took is literally the same deal that John Thune, the Republican Senate Majority Leader, has had on the table for at least two and a half, three weeks, which is effectively, we promise that we will have a debate and probably a vote on the extension of the Obamacare subsidies at some point in the future" Cillizza said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., left, hold a news conference on the GOP reconciliation bill, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

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Cillizza noted that Schumer was not involved in the plan, but said he would likely get blamed for it.

New York Times columnist Ezra Klein wrote a column Monday headlined, "What were Democrats Thinking?"

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Klein said he wouldn't have voted for the compromise in the Senate, but said the senators who did were listening to their constituents and politically rescued President Donald Trump.

"Shutdowns are an opportunity to make an argument, and the country was just starting to pay attention. If Trump wanted to cancel flights over Thanksgiving rather than keep health care costs down, I don’t see why Democrats should save him from making his priorities so exquisitely clear. And I worry that Democrats have just taught Trump that they will fold under pressure. That’s the kind of lesson he remembers," Klein wrote.