WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats poised for the 10th time Thursday to reject a stopgap bill that would reopen the government, insisting they won’t back down from demands that Congress take over health care benefits.
The repeated votes on the funding bill have become a daily drumbeat in Congress, underscoring how intractable the situation has become since it was at times the only item on the Senate agenda. Republicans in the House of Representatives have completely abandoned Washington. The standoff lasted more than two weeks and left hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed, even more without a guaranteed day of pay, and Congress virtually paralyzed.
“Every day that goes by, there are more and more Americans receiving fewer and fewer paychecks,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, adding that there have also been thousands of flight delays across the country.
Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, has repeatedly tried to pressure Democrats to deviate from their strategy of voting against the emergency funding bill. It didn’t work. And while there have been some bipartisan talks about potential health care compromises, they have not produced significant progress in reopening the government.
Democrats say they won’t budge until they get a guarantee to expand subsidies for health plans offered under the Affordable Care Act. They warned that millions of Americans who buy their own health insurance – such as tiny business owners, farmers and contractors – will see massive increases when premium prices expire in the coming weeks. They expect that with a Nov. 1 deadline, voters in most states will demand that Republicans begin stern negotiations.
“We have to do something, and right now Republicans are allowing these tax credits to expire,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
Still, Thune also tried a different tack Thursday, voting to pass budget legislation — a move that could shake up the Senate or just deepen the divide between the two parties.
A deadline for health plan subsidies
Democrats have pushed for their health care priorities and opposed voting for a Republican bill that would reopen the government. However, they also warn that time is running out for an agreement to prevent enormous increases at many health insurance companies.
When they controlled Congress during the pandemic, Democrats increased subsidies for health plans under the Affordable Care Act. It has pushed enrollment under the health care law signed by President Barack Obama to fresh levels and brought the number of uninsured people to historic lows. According to the nonprofit health research organization KFF, nearly 24 million people currently purchase health insurance through subsidized marketplaces.
Democrats — and some Republicans — worry that many of these people will go without insurance if prices rise dramatically. While the tax relief does not expire until next year, the health insurance companies will announce the price increases soon. In most states they begin November 1st.
Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said she had heard from “families who are completely panicking about their premiums doubling.”
“These are small business owners who have to think about leaving the job they love to get employer-sponsored health care elsewhere, or simply forgo health insurance altogether,” she added.
Murray also said that if many people decide to give up their health insurance, it could have an impact on overall health insurance, as the number of people who have health insurance will shrink. That could lead to higher prices across the board, she said.
Some Republicans have acknowledged that the expiration of tax credits could be a problem and floated potential compromises to address the problem, but there is little consensus among the Republican Party.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., this week called COVID-era subsidies a “boondoggle,” adding: “If you subsidize the health care system and pay insurance companies more, prices go up.”
President Donald Trump has said he “would like to see a deal on good health care” but has not meaningfully engaged in the debate. And Thune has insisted that Democrats first vote to reopen the government before beginning negotiations on health care.
If Congress begins negotiations on major health care changes, it would likely take weeks, if not longer, to reach a compromise.
Votes on draft budgets
Meanwhile, Senate Republicans plan to vote Thursday on a bill to fund the Defense Department and several other areas of government. That would result in the Senate turning to Thune’s priority of working through the spending bills and potentially pave the way for paying troops’ salaries, although the House would ultimately have to return to Washington to vote for a final bill negotiated between the two chambers.
Thune said this is a step toward “traditionally funding the government, namely through the annual appropriations process.”
It wasn’t clear whether Democrats would provide the support needed to advance the bills. They discussed the idea at their lunch Wednesday and then said they wanted to review the Republican proposal and make sure it included funding that was a priority for them.
While the votes won’t bring the Senate any closer to an immediate solution to the government shutdown, they could at least focus its attention on issues where there is bipartisan agreement.
