By Lawrence Wilson
Contributing Writer
The U.S. government shutdown will continue as the Senate again failed to end debate and bring a short-term funding measure to a vote.
The Thursday vote on a Republican-backed continuing resolution fell short of the 60-vote threshold required to bring the measure to an up-or-down vote. The result was 51-45.
Leaders in both parties continue to blame the other for instigating the shutdown.
Democrats say Republicans caused the shutdown by refusing to negotiate over their proposals for health care funding, which they say are necessary to avoid dramatic cost increases and the loss of health coverage by millions.
“Republicans are shutting down the government because they refuse to address the crisis in American health care,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in an Oct. 8 Senate speech.
Republicans, who have offered a resolution to extend current funding levels through Nov. 21, say such complex negotiations must be done during the regular appropriations process and not under the pressure of a government shutdown.
Speaking of the extension of enhanced health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, a key Democratic proposal, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said on Thursday that an extension of the ACA subsidies should not be considered as part of a continuing resolution.
“We require the member-driven consensus process here, and that’s what’s necessary,” Johnson said.
Regarding the ACA subsidies, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said in a Wednesday MSNBC interview that he told Democrats: “We can guarantee you get a vote by a date, certain. At some point, Democrats have to take yes for an answer.”
Thune said Republicans are interested in reducing the cost of health insurance, but that would require reforms in the ACA enhanced subsidies.
“I can’t guarantee it’s going to pass,” Thune said. “I can guarantee you that there will be a process and you will get a vote.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., told reporters on Thursday that she would not vote for a temporary funding resolution until Republicans make commitments on health care.
“We want a deal that actually produces health care for American people, not a showboat for the Republicans.”
Democrats have routinely said Republicans ended the enhanced subsidies.
“There’s a tax credit that’s available for millions of American families to help them pay for their health insurance premium. The Republicans eliminated [it],” Sen Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said in a floor speech on Thursday.
These subsidies were instituted as a temporary measure during COVID-19 by the American Rescue Plan of 2021. In 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act extended them through December 2025. Democrats believe they should be made permanent due to the rising cost of health insurance.
Some 400,000 federal workers are currently furloughed without pay. President Donald Trump ordered that certain unspent funds be used to pay some 1.3 million active-duty service members on Wednesday.
Nathan Worcester contributed to this report.
