Democrats pushed back Wednesday against reports that members of the party appeared to disagree on whether insurance subsidies should be included in a spending bill due Friday.
In response to President Trump’s threat to withhold the payments as a negotiating tactic to bring Democrats to the table on healthcare, the party’s leaders said this month that they planned to push for the funds as part of the appropriations talks. The government will face a partial shutdown if a spending bill doesn’t pass by Friday night.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney spoke Tuesday night, a Democratic aide said, and Pelosi told Mulvaney that the payments must be included in the spending bill or Democrats will not vote for it.
But other members of the party say the payments, called cost-sharing reduction subsidies, are already allowed through Obamacare and that House Republicans should drop an Obama-era lawsuit against the funds or that the Trump administration should allow them to proceed. They also have pushed back against a proposal from the Trump administration to fund the subsidies in exchange for funding a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.
Earlier Tuesday, Democratic Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland indicated that he did not believe the payments should be part of the spending bill, but that the administration should allow for them instead. Hoyer’s office later released a follow-up statement saying the payments should continue to be “permanent, mandatory funding,” but did allow that “clarifying language in the omnibus would be helpful.”
“It is not a quid pro quo that Republicans are giving to us to get funding for a border wall or other partisan priorities,” he said.
In a press conference with House Democrats Wednesday, Rep. Joseph Crowley of New York said there weren’t disagreements within the party about whether the funds should be in a spending bill. The funds are being allocated but are part of an ongoing lawsuit that was brought by the House against the Obama administration.
“We stand united in understanding the impact that not funding the cost-sharing would have on all of our constituents,” Crowley said. “Let’s be clear about this: It was a Republican-led lawsuit that led to the halting of these payments so far. They can withdraw that lawsuit right now. The funds are there for the cost-sharing purposes.
“We don’t have to add money to the appropriations bill … This is not about new money, which is what the CR is about; it’s to keep the government running. That money is appropriated. There might be some language that can be changed. I don’t think my Republican colleagues want to see this going unfunded.”
A federal judge has sided with the House’s position that the payments were illegally allocated, saying they must be authorized by Congress. The case is delayed after being appealed by the Obama administration.
“These payments were never authorized by Congress, were not included in previous spending bills, and the Obama administration made these payments in violation of the law,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
“President Trump would be right to stand his ground against this foolish demand. To be clear, I view these payments as unconstitutional – and believe they should not be made at all.”
He said Democrats would be irresponsible for insisting that the government shut down over the demand, but it’s not clear from Democratic statements whether they would try to block a measure that didn’t include the subsidies.
When Crowley was asked at the press conference whether he would vote for the spending bill if the funds were not included, he said he would wait and see which measures are in the bill.
Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., also speaking at the press conference, responded to reporter questions saying, “I think you will find that many Democrats will be opposed to voting for a CR if language is not included.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., did not provide additional information about the subsidies in a floor speech Wednesday, but said that “the issue of cost sharing” was among “a few issues to work out.”
But House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said the payments would not be in the spending bill.
“We aren’t doing that,” Ryan told the Washington Examiner. “That’s not in an appropriations bill. That’s something separate that the administration does.”
Health insurers and medical providers have requested a guarantee from Congress and the Trump administrations about the funds, expected to reach $7 billion in 2017, so that they can price their plans for next year’s Obamacare exchanges. Safety net providers specifically asked Congress to include them in the spending bill. If the subsidies were to be blocked, insurers would leave the exchanges as soon as they are able or raise premiums, causing customers to lose coverage. • Susan Ferrechio contributed to this report.
