On Sunday, November 9, eight Democrats voted with Republicans on a procedural measure to move ahead on funding the government, separating that from continuing tax credits on the Affordable Care Act, which are scheduled to expire January 1. Until this vote, extending the Affordable Care Act credits had been a key condition to Democrats voting to end the 40-day government shutdown. The Democrats voting to begin the process of ending the shutdown were Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.

Democratic social media posters vented frustration, calling for various senators to resign, be replaced, etc. Some went so far as to advocate blatantly counterproductive actions such as changing voter registration from Democrat to independent. But as Princeton history professor Kevin M. Kruse put it, “… the answer isn’t to abandon the [Democratic] party …. The answer is to take it over and transform it.”