President Donald Trump signed a government funding bill Wednesday night, ending a record 43-day shutdown that caused financial stress for federal workers who went without paychecks, stranded scores of travelers at airports and generated long lines at some food banks.
But some Democrats who voted against the bill are still warning of a looming healthcare crisis. Minnesota Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar and Betty McCollum voted against the federal funding bill, arguing it's an insufficient short-term deal that won't prevent a significant spike in health insurance premiums.
McCollum called the refusal from Republican's to renegotiate with Democrats "heartless."
"It's a heartless cold lie that we're ever going to get a vote in time to make sure that people will have a chance to have insurance that they can afford," McCollum told Vineeta Sawkar on the WCCO Morning News.
Omar echoed that warning, also speaking to Sawkar on WCCO.
"The American people cannot afford for us to continue to play this game without addressing the real concerns that they face," Omar adds.
They both say the issue has merely been postponed until the next funding deadline which is just a couple of months away, in late January.
Minnesota Republican Congressman and House Whip Tom Emmer, one of President Trump's staunchest allies in the House, countered that the shutdown ended with no Democratic wins, blaming them for the public's distress during the shutdown.
"Democrats were left speechless when asked whether or not the shutdown was worth it," Emmer wrote on social media. "It is a disgrace that they lack the decency to admit they were completely in the wrong. The left blindly makes decisions to appease the far left; they couldn't care less about doing what is right for the American people."
The Republican president also blamed the situation on Democrats and suggested voters shouldn’t reward the party during next year’s midterm elections.
“So I just want to tell the American people, you should not forget this,” Trump said. “When we come up to midterms and other things, don’t forget what they’ve done to our country.”
But Omar stressed that Republican promises to address the ACA tax credit later are not enough, and the risks to families who depend on those benefits are significant.
"A family making $85,000 a year could be paying nearly $16,000 more annually," Omar explains. "That's $1,300 more every month just to stay insured."
McCollum took direct aim at Republican Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson.
"He made it very clear that he has his own plan now for health care," says McCollum. "Democrats can work with him if we choose to do what he wants to do, which is not fix the Affordable Care Act, but to blow the Affordable Care Act up. And go back to people shopping for their own insurance online."
McCollum also criticized the bill for including special payments for certain senators while making cuts to Medicaid.
It’s unclear whether the parties will find any common ground on health care before the December vote in the Senate. Johnson has said he will not commit to bringing it up in his chamber.
Some Republicans have said they are open to extending the COVID-19 pandemic-era tax credits as premiums will soar for millions of people, but they also want new limits on who can receive the subsidies. Some argue that the tax dollars for the plans should be routed through individuals rather than go directly to insurance companies.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Monday that she was supportive of extending the tax credits with changes, such as new income caps. Some Democrats have signaled they could be open to that idea.
House Democrats expressed great skepticism that the Senate effort would lead to a breakthrough.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Republicans have wanted to repeal the health overhaul for the past 15 years. “That’s where they’re trying to go,” she said.
A bitter end after a long stalemate
The frustration and pressures generated by the shutdown was reflected when lawmakers debated the spending measure on the House floor.
Republicans said Democrats sought to use the pain generated by the shutdown to prevail in a policy dispute.
“They knew it would cause pain and they did it anyway,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said.
Democrats said Republicans raced to pass tax breaks earlier this year that they say mostly will benefit the wealthy. But the bill before the House Wednesday “leaves families twisting in the wind with zero guarantee there will ever, ever be a vote to extend tax credits to help everyday people pay for their health care,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.
Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats would not give up on the subsidy extension even if the vote did not go their way.
“This fight is not over,” Jeffries said. “We’re just getting started.”
The House had not been in legislative session since Sept. 19, when it passed a short-term measure to keep the government open when the new budget year began in October. Johnson sent lawmakers home after that vote and put the onus on the Senate to act, saying House Republicans had done their job.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.