This year in Washington so far has been one of gloves-off politics rather than handshake compromises. More than 150 lawsuits have been filed against the Trump administration’s actions. Then, starting Oct. 1, Democrats in the Senate voted 14 times not to fund the government until a key demand on health care was met. The shutdown has been the longest in United States history.
On Sunday, however, a gaggle of three former governors – Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire along with independent Sen. Angus King of Maine – were able to broker a deal and achieve a 60-40 Senate vote that is expected to end the shutdown in coming days.
By forging a consensus with the majority Republicans, such as a promise to hold a vote on health-care subsidies next month, the three senators revived the art of reason and listening that the nation’s Founders expected of what is often called the “world’s greatest deliberative body.”
“This was the only deal on the table,” stated Senator Shaheen. “It was our best chance to reopen the government and immediately begin negotiations to extend the [Affordable Care Act] tax credits.”
Long a champion of bipartisanship during a political crisis – she was the first Democrat to lead New Hampshire in a generation – Senator Shaheen often achieves what Founding Father James Madison called “the cool and deliberate sense of the community.”
“It takes a good negotiator to figure out how to get to ‘yes,’” she told The New York Times in September. “Unfortunately, a lot of people, particularly today, think it’s either my way or the highway. And that doesn’t achieve what we need to achieve.”
During weeks of talks with Republican senators, she was widely trusted. “People have a lot of respect for her on both sides,” a former GOP governor, Sen. John Hoeven from North Dakota, told The Boston Globe.
The effects of the shutdown, such as food aid shortages and canceled flights, also helped move the talks along. “Temperatures cool, the atmospheric pressure increases outside and all of a sudden it looks like things will come together,” Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, told reporters on Sunday.
A 16-year veteran of the Senate, Senator Shaheen announced in March that she will not seek reelection in 2026. She told the Times that it is “too soon to tell” whether Washington’s polarization, notably on foreign affairs, can end. Yet, she added with calm deliberation, “Eventually, we’re going to see a change.”
