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US Senate Majority Leader John Thune quickly swatted down a Democratic offer to reopen the government and extend expiring health care subsidies for one year, calling it a “nonstarter” as the partisan impasse over the shutdown continues into its 38th day.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer made the offer to reopen the government on Friday as Republicans have refused to negotiate on demands to extend health care subsidies.
It was a much narrowed version of a broad proposal Democrats laid out a month ago to make the health tax credits permanent and reverse cuts to Medicaid that Republicans enacted earlier this year in US President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”.
Schumer offered Senate Republicans simultaneous votes to end the government shutdown and extend the expiring health care subsidies, along with a bipartisan committee to address Republican demands for changes to the Affordable Care Act.
“All Republicans have to do is say yes,” said Schumer. But Republicans quickly said no, as Thune reiterated that they would not trade offers on health care until the government is reopened.
“That’s what we’re going to negotiate once the government opens up,” Thune said after Schumer made his proposal on the floor.
Thune said he thinks the offer is an indication that Democrats are “feeling the heat.”
“I guess you could characterise that as progress,” he said. “But I just don’t think it gets anywhere close to what we need to do here.”
Republicans met on Friday afternoon with no resolution about steps forward. “We’re back to square one,” said Senator from Louisiana John Kennedy, adding that he could not predict when the shutdown will end.
Despite the stalemate, lawmakers in both parties were feeling increased urgency to reopen the government as airlines were forced to cut more than 1,000 flights, government workers remained unpaid and food aid was delayed for millions of people.
Thune pleaded with Democrats as he opened the Senate on Friday to “end these weeks of misery.”
Thune opted to keep the Senate in session over the weekend as a group of moderate Democrats worked on a possible compromise proposal. Trump called on the Senate to stay in town “until they have a Deal to end the Democrat Shutdown.”
As leaders of the two parties disagreed, the small group of Democrats led by New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen continued to negotiate among themselves and with Republicans on a deal that would end the shutdown.
The group has been discussing for weeks a vote for a series of bills that would pay for parts of government — food aid, veterans programmes and the legislative branch and extend funding for everything else until December or January.
The three annual spending bills that would likely be included are the product of bipartisan negotiations that have continued through the shutdown.
But the outline of that agreement would only come with the promise of a future health care vote, rather than a guarantee that Affordable Care Act subsidies are extended by the end of the year. Many Democrats have said that’s unacceptable.
Republican leaders only need five Democrat senators to flip their vote – on top of theirs – to reopen the government. The group involved in these talks has ranged from 10 to 12 Democratic senators.
“Unfortunately the Republicans made it very clear that they were not going to go along with the offer that Senator Schumer put on the floor, so we need another path forward,” Shaheen said as she left a meeting with the other moderates. “We’re working on it.”
Additional sources • AP