Where Is The Line? Democratic Budget Capitulation Foreshadows LGBTQ+ Fights To Come

Yesterday, several Democrats excused a vote that will allow the Trump administration to gut Medicaid and empower Musk and Trump to consolidate power.

Photo by Ian Hutchinson on Unsplash

Ten Senate Democrats handed Republicans a critical victory yesterday, voting in favor of cloture on a budget that will allow the Trump Administration to continue wielding budget cuts as a political weapon—targeting the administration’s opponents, including trans and queer people. The budget slashes Medicaid, dealing a direct blow to vulnerable constituents, while further entrenching the administration’s consolidation of power. The backlash from within the party was swift, with figures ranging from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Nancy Pelosi condemning those who crossed the aisle. Yet some have rushed to defend the vote, insisting that Democrats had no real choice—that avoiding a government shutdown was the priority, and that Republicans are the true villains here. But this defense falls apart under scrutiny. Would these same voices excuse a vote that greenlit anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-trans amendments, restrictions on mifepristone, or even a total abortion ban? Where, exactly, is the line?

In recent months, fear of Republican hostage-taking has driven a wave of capitulation, with institutions and individuals alike complying with administration policies—even when those policies are blocked in court. Nowhere is this more evident than in what the transgender community has endured. Hospital systems have abandoned gender-affirming care, citing the risk to their government grants, their fear of Trump’s administration outweighing their willingness to fight. Even LGBTQ+ health centers have erased gender-affirming care resources, afraid that merely acknowledging such care could jeopardize their federally qualified health center status. Again and again, we see the same pattern: compliance disguised as pragmatism, retreat framed as strategy. And to those who justify it, the question remains—where is your line?

When a handful of Democrats voted to advance the Republican budget, they justified it by claiming the alternative—a government shutdown—was too steep a price to pay. But in the chaos of the Trump administration, that claim doesn’t hold up. Markets are already crumbling, Elon Musk is slashing essential programs with no oversight, and dysfunction defines the federal government. Even if Republicans tried to pin the shutdown on Democrats, the messaging writes itself: We will not vote for a budget that gives Elon Musk the power to act as an unelected king, nor will we allow Medicaid to be gutted. But they didn’t even try. Instead, they retreated—the one time they had real power, real leverage, and a chance to push back. Apparently, Medicaid and Musk were not their line.

As expected, a small but influential chorus of pundits is rushing to excuse the Democrats who voted to advance the Republican budget, arguing that criticism should be directed solely at the GOP. On the surface, the logic seems sound—after all, far more Republicans than Democrats supported the bill. But this framing ignores a critical fact: had Democrats held the line as a unified caucus, the bill would not have passed. Had leadership actually whipped the votes, the bill would not have passed. Republicans absolutely deserve blame, and readers of my newsletter know I don’t hesitate to call them out. But the getaway driver is just as culpable. We expect Democrats to champion those in need, to fight against Musk and Trump’s creeping despotism, and—at the bare minimum—to have a line they will not cross.

If protecting Medicaid and democracy isn’t their line, what does that mean for the issue I have dedicated my life to—reporting on efforts to protect LGBTQ+ people? If faced with a budget that guts transgender healthcare, bans gender-affirming care for youth, and strips funding from any organization or study that even mentions transgender people, would these same Democrats not offer the same excuse? What happens when the next budget includes any of the 50 anti-LGBTQ+ poison pill riders that have surfaced in past proposals, and that will almost certainly return? What does this precedent mean for any marginalized community that can be targeted the same way? It’s not hard to imagine a world where Democrats who didn’t hold the line for Medicaid won’t hold it for trans healthcare either. Let’s be honest: if it’s our rights on the chopping block in a government shutdown fight, they won’t fight for us, and that has been made clear today.

We don’t have to imagine this scenario—it has already happened. Just months ago, Democrats passed the National Defense Authorization Act with a provision banning Tricare from covering transgender troops' surgeries, as well as blocking gender-affirming care for the children of service members. While I reported extensively on it, many remained silent. Democratic leadership—the same leadership that just voted to advance this budget—refused to even allow their own senators to vote on an amendment stripping out the anti-trans provisions.

For those defending the actions of the ten overtly complicit Democrats today, where is your line? Would you offer the same justifications if ten Democrats voted for a total abortion ban, insisting well, we had to keep the government open? What about a bill defunding public schools? A ban on clean energy? Take the issue you care about most, push it to its furthest extreme—because everyone has a line. Or maybe not. Maybe the real fear among those making excuses isn’t about Republican atrocities at all. Maybe it’s the uncomfortable truth that we have work to do in our own party.