U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, one of eight members of the chamber to cross party lines and endorse a GOP plan to end the nation’s longest government shutdown, defended his vote on the Senate floor Monday amid intense party criticism of the deal.

“Many of my friends are unhappy. They think we should have kept our government closed indefinitely to protest the policies of the Trump administration,” Durbin said, as he continued to blame the shutdown on President Donald Trump and allied Republicans.

“I share their opinions of this administration, but cannot accept a strategy which wages political battle at the expense of my neighbors’ paycheck or the food for his children,” said Durbin, Illinois’ senior senator and the chamber’s No. 2 ranking Democrat.

The vote by Durbin, who will retire at the end of his fifth term in January 2027, reflects the veteran lawmaker’s deeply rooted institutional beliefs. He said during the vote Sunday night that he met with Senate Republican Leader John Thune, of South Dakota, and told “him that I was counting on him to keep his word on this agreement. He assured me he would.”

Under the proposed Senate agreement, the government would reopen until Jan. 30, and measures to fully fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Women, Infants and Children Program and all assistance for veterans would receive the votes of the eight-member Democratic bloc. Additionally, all federal workers fired by Trump during the shutdown would be rehired.

But the deal did not guarantee an extension of health care subsidies — the core issue Democrats had been holding out for — angering progressive Democrats, including many in Illinois.

Instead, the Democrats who broke ranks with the party only secured a promise from Thune that there would be a Senate vote by mid-December on Affordable Care Act subsidies to help offset rising premium costs. There’s no guarantee the GOP-led House will follow suit.

“I’ve served in the Senate for 29 years, and I’ve never seen that kind of offer from a Senate majority,” Durbin said of Thune’s offer.

In March, Durbin faced similar criticism from progressive Democrats after joining 10 Democrats to advance a Republican-led plan to avert a government shutdown. Two months later, he announced he would not seek reelection.

“The shutdown of the government stopped paychecks for thousands of federal workers, causing real hardship for the families, including our overworked and understaffed air traffic controllers, and many other critical members of the federal workforce,” Durbin said Monday on the government shutdown’s 41st day.

“Food pantries in my state and across the nation were overwhelmed when President Trump stopped SNAP food payments to 42 million Americans — one-third of whom were children. Food pantries being overwhelmed, as well by unemployed workers who had been laid off and furloughed because of the government shutdown,” he said.

But Democrats largely believed their stance of holding out for Obamacare assistance was a successful one and was part of the reason the party was successful a week ago at ballot boxes across the nation and the reason they remained hopeful for next year’s midterm elections.

Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who will become the state’s senior senator in 2027, voted against the proposal, and Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker blasted the agreement.

“This is not a deal — it’s an empty promise,” Pritzker, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, said on X. “Trump and his Republican Congress are making healthcare more expensive for the middle class and ending it for working families.”

Pritzker’s lieutenant governor, Juliana Stratton, is one of three major Democratic candidates vying for the nomination to succeed Durbin, along with U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi, of Schaumburg, and Robin Kelly, of Lynwood. All three said they opposed the deal.

“Today’s vote plays directly into Donald Trump’s hands and serves as another example of the failures of business as usual. We need fighters in D.C. — not folders,” Stratton said.

Krishnamoorthi said: “Time and again, Donald Trump has proven that his promises aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.” He added, “The ability of the American people to afford health care must not depend on Donald Trump keeping his word. I cannot support any deal built on delay, deception and empty promises.”

Kelly vowed a “vehement NO on the deal” if the agreement comes to the House, her campaign said.

The Senate’s 60-40 vote on the agreement also led to increased pressure from Democratic activists seeking the ouster of the chamber’s Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, of New York. Though Schumer voted against the deal, some Democrats contended he had given his ascent to the negotiations.

Joining Durbin in voting with Republicans were New Hampshire Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, Nevada Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman and Maine Sen. Angus King, Independent, who caucuses with the Democrats. None are up for election in 2026.

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