Why Democrats caved

Enough Democrats joined the GOP to strike a deal that could end the government shutdown. And now they're feeling the heat.

This episode was produced by Kelli Wessinger with help from Avishay Artsy, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Peter Balonon-Rosen and Ariana Aspuru, engineered by Patrick Boyd and Adriene Lilly, and hosted by Astead Herndon.

Our guest was David Axelrod, host of the podcast Hacks on Tap. Listen at http://vmpod.co/hacks

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries speaking to the press about the shutdown. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images.

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