WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats on Thursday rejected for the 10th time a stopgap spending bill that would reopen the government, insisting they won’t back down from demands that Congress considers. health benefits.
The vote failed by a score of 51-45, well short of the 60 needed to advance the Senate’s filibuster rules.
The repetition of votes on the funding bill has become a daily drumbeat in Congress, underscoring how intractable the situation has become. This has at times been the only item on the Senate agenda, while House Republicans have left Washington completely. The standoff has lasted for more than two weeks, leaving hundreds of thousands of people federal workers on leave, even more without guaranteed pay and Congress essentially paralyzed.
“As we position ourselves as two seemingly entrenched camps on this 16th day of lockdown, real people are wondering if their government will be there for them? said Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
The shutdown is on pace to become the second longest, surpassing 2013’s 16-day shutdown, which was also a debate over the Affordable Care Act. The longest ended in 2019, after 35 days.
Even though the soldiers were paid this week, it is unclear how long this will last. The White House Budget Office told Congress it would cost $6.5 billion to cover that pay period alone. The next one is two weeks.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has repeatedly tried to pressure Democrats to abandon their strategy of voting against the stopgap funding bill. It didn’t work. And while bipartisan discussions are underway over possible health care compromises, they have produced no significant progress toward reopening the government.
“The Democratic Party is the party that will not take yes for an answer,” Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said in an angry speech on the Senate floor.
He had also proposed organizing a subsequent vote on the extension of subsidies to health plans offered under the Affordable Care Act procurements, but said it would not “guarantee any outcome or outcome.”
Democrats say they won’t move until they get a guarantee to extend tax credits for health plans. They warn that the millions of Americans who buy their own health insurance — such as small business owners, farmers and entrepreneurs — will see big increases when premium prices are announced in the coming weeks. Looking ahead to November 1 in most states, they are thinking voters will demand that the Republicans begin serious negotiations.
“The ACA crisis threatens everyone, and yet Republicans seem willing to let premiums rise,” the Senate Democratic leader said. Chuck Schumer in a floor speech.
Meanwhile, Thune tried a different approach Thursday by voting to proceed with appropriations bills — daring Democrats to vote against Defense Department funding legislation. They also voted against it.
A deadline for subsidies to health plans
Democrats have rallied around their health care priorities as they oppose a vote on a Republican bill that would reopen the government. But they also warn that now is the time to strike a deal to prevent significant increases for many health plans is running out.
When they controlled Congress during the pandemic, Democrats increased subsidies for health plans from the Affordable Care Act. This pushed enrollment under President Barack Obama’s health care law to new levels and pushed the uninsured rate to a historic low. Nearly 24 million people currently get their health insurance through subsidized markets, according to KFF, a nonprofit health care research organization.
Democrats — and some Republicans — worry that many of these people will forgo insurance if the price rises significantly. Even though the tax credits don’t expire until next year, health insurers will soon send out notices of price increases. In most states they come out on November 1st.
Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said she’s heard from “families who are absolutely panicking about their premiums doubling.”
“These are small business owners who must consider giving up the work they love to receive employer-sponsored health care elsewhere or simply forgoing coverage altogether,” she added.
Some Republicans have acknowledged that expiring tax credits could pose a problem and have offered potential compromises to address it, but there is little consensus within the Republican Party.
President of the House Mike JohnsonR-La., this week called the COVID-era grants a “mess.”
President Donald Trump said he “would like to see a deal done for good health care” but did not weigh significantly into the debate. And Thune insisted that Democrats first vote to reopen the government before entering into negotiations on health care.
If Congress were to engage in negotiations over significant health care changes, it would likely take weeks or longer to reach a compromise.
Voting on appropriations bills
Meanwhile, Senate Republicans voted to pass a bill to fund the Defense Department and possibly several other areas of government. That would have shifted the Senate toward Thune’s priority of working on spending bills and potentially cleared the way for paying troop salaries, although the House would have ultimately had to return to Washington to vote on a final bill negotiated between the two chambers.
This would have potentially strained Democrats’ resolve, but the vote on the procedure failed 50-44, with Senators Catherine Cortez Masto, John Fetterman and Jeanne Shaheen the only Democrats to vote in favor.
“This is politics. If anything was needed to demonstrate how Democrats are fundamentally indifferent to supporting our troops and defending our country, just look at this vote,” Thune shouted on the Senate floor after the vote.
Democrats have accused Republicans of abandoning bipartisanship in the appropriations process, potentially leaving aside funding for other areas of government that are priorities for them.
“We think we need a strong defense, but we think we need strong health care, we need strong security for the American people, we need strong programs that help them with many other issues, mental health and education,” Schumer said Thursday.
Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democratic member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said he would not vote to “advance appropriations bills until they are serious about stopping health care premium increases.”
The episode made clear that Senate leaders are not talking to each other and left Capitol Hill with a growing sense that an end to stasis is not in sight.
“Many of you are asking us: how will this end? » Johnson said: “We have no idea.”
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Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report.
