U.S. President Donald Trump and the Republican Party are widely seen as having gained more from the deal that ended the recent government shutdown than Democrats, according to a new poll.
On November 12, Trump signed a funding bill to reopen the government after a 43-day shutdown—the longest in U.S. history—following a negotiated agreement in Congress.
A CBS News poll found that 55 percent of respondents believed Trump and Republicans got more of what they wanted from the deal, while only 6 percent said Democrats did.
“While Democrats shut down the government to use struggling American families—by their own admission—as ‘leverage’ for their radical political agenda, President Trump continued to work night and day on behalf of American people,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Newsweek.
“Whether it be ensuring troops were paid, removing dangerous criminals from the streets, working on lowering prices, or securing more investments for America, President Trump will never stop delivering,” she added.
Why the Deal Matters
The federal shutdown stemmed from a clash between Democrats and Republicans over whether to extend health care subsidies. The stalemate had widespread consequences, including disruptions to SNAP benefits, flight cancellations, and hundreds of thousands of federal employees being furloughed or working without pay.
Key Details From the Agreement
The shutdown ended last Monday after seven Democratic senators and one independent joined Republicans to pass the funding bill. The agreement was reached even though the parties did not resolve a central dispute: whether to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits set to expire in January.
In the CBS poll of 1,288 adults, conducted November 13–14, 55 percent said Trump and Republicans benefited more from the deal, compared to 6 percent who said Democrats did. Another 15 percent believed both sides benefited equally, while 24 percent felt neither side gained.
Among Democrats, 55 percent said their party compromised too much, while 32 percent felt Democrats struck the right balance and 13 percent believed they did not compromise enough. On the Republican side, 70 percent said the GOP compromised the right amount, and 13 percent said Republicans did not compromise enough.
Mark Shanahan, who teaches American politics at the University of Surrey in the U.K., told Newsweek: “What became very obvious political maneuvering over the six weeks of the shutdown pretty much ensured there were no winners although the Democrats, whose soft center caved, are the most obvious losers. The Democrats were supposedly holding out over the Affordable Care Act, and specifically a guaranteed extension of expiring health insurance subsidies. But they failed to achieve that and many on the liberal side of America are questioning why they caved, or if they knew they’d achieve nothing, why they held out so long.”
As part of the deal, Kansas Republican Senator Roger Marshall told CNN that Republicans plan to introduce a health care bill by December focusing on redirecting money currently allocated to insurance companies directly toward patients.
“We want everyone to have meaningful, affordable access to health care. We want to make people healthy again,” he said.
Still, public expectations remain skeptical: 65 percent of respondents said they now expect health insurance premiums to rise, 29 percent expect no change, and 6 percent believe premiums will decrease.
Shanahan added: “The one thing that Democrats can point to now is that all the measures in the finance bill to keep government open into 2026 now fall on the Republicans. If, as expected, health insurance premiums spike in January, they can point to Republicans who’ve failed to mitigate huge health care costs, although Trump will lay the blame at Congress’ feet.”
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.
Reactions From Both Parties
After signing the spending bill, Trump said the government would “resume normal operations.”
Senate Democratic minority leader Chuck Schumer criticized the agreement, arguing that it “fails to do anything of substance to fix America’s health care crisis.”
What Happens Next
With the government reopened, federal services are running again and federal workers are receiving back pay.
However, the funding agreement only runs until the end of January. At that point, lawmakers will once again have to confront the same set of spending and health care challenges that triggered the latest shutdown.
