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“If they cave now and go forward with a meaningless vote, I think it will be a horrible policy decision, and I think politically, to the Democrats,” progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont told reporters. “Some of you may have heard the expression, ‘when we fight, we win.’ …Well, when you cave, you lose.” But several moderate-leaning Democrats declined to say on Thursday how they would vote on any proposal that fell short of a binding commitment to extend the ACA subsidies. “My red line is those people [losing health care],” Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, told TIME. “I’ll leave it at that.” President Donald Trump said this week that the shutdown had been a “big factor, negative” in GOP election losses on Tuesday—an admission that Democrats seized on as evidence they should hold their ground. “Donald Trump clearly is feeling pressure to bring this shutdown to an end,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, said on the Senate floor. “Well, I have good news for the president: Meet with Democrats, reopen the government.”
