On Sunday, eight senators who caucus with the Democratic Party, including Senators John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania, and Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, joined with 52 Republican senators to advance a deal that would end the ongoing federal shutdown. Monday night, the same group of 60 senators voted to pass the deal and send the bill authorizing federal spending to the House.
The over 40 day shutdown has caused over 1 million federal workers to go without pay, led to cancellations of flights around the country, and contributed to the Trump administration throwing the distribution of SNAP benefits this month into question.
Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville posted earlier on Monday that “the American people have suffered long enough” and he was “glad the Schumer Shutdown is finally coming to an end.” Senator Katie Britt similarly wrote that Republican senators “provided a path forward to keep our skies safe, fund WIC and SNAP, take care of our veterans, and more.”
In a public statement, Kaine said the “deal guarantees a vote to extend Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, which Republicans weren’t willing to do.”
The main demand of Democratic senators since the shutdown began has been the extension of these tax credits, the impending expiration of which would increase premiums for people on ACA plans by over 100 percent according to one KFF report. As part of the deal, Senate majority leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, promised to hold a vote on extending the tax credits in December.
On Monday, though, Senator Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, introduced an amendment that would have extended the tax credits through Jan. 1, 2027, saying that “Republican colleagues are refusing to act to stop health care premiums from doubling for over 20 million Americans.” The amendment failed in a party line vote.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, has also not committed to holding a vote on extending the tax credits in the House. When asked whether he would have the House vote on the matter during an interview on CNN, Johnson told Jake Tapper that “we have to have a real reform” after blaming recent increases in health insurance premiums on the Affordable Care Act.
Many Senate Democrats who have not voted for the tentative deal, as well as many House Democrats, have criticized it on the grounds that the deal alone will not actually prevent the expiration of the ACA tax credits and resulting spike in healthcare premiums.
“I voted ‘NO’ on tonight’s proposal because it doesn’t provide relief to the 1.2 million Georgians who are about to see their health care premiums double and more,” Senator Raphael Warnock, D-Georgia, wrote in a public statement. “People cannot afford that.”
“This so-called ‘deal’ is not a deal in my opinion,” Democratic Congresswoman Terri Sewell stated in a video posted to her social media profiles. “It’s an empty promise from the Republicans to help solve a healthcare crisis that they caused. It does nothing to extend ACA tax credits that help my constituents afford healthcare.”
“Some of my Democratic colleagues in the Senate think that Republicans are open to negotiating on healthcare once the government reopens,” Sewell continued. “I don’t trust it. I don’t trust them. But here’s what I do know. If Republicans don’t hold up to their end of the bargain, they will be responsible for skyrocketing healthcare premiums and costs for millions of Americans.”
Before the federal government can reopen, the bill passed Monday still needs to be considered by the House and approved by that body as well. While House Democrats have widely condemned the deal, Republicans currently enjoy a thin majority in the House, and the bill will only require a majority vote to pass.
