Washington Examiner Chief Political Correspondent Byron York suggested that Democratic senators no longer agree on why they shut down the government.
Eight Democratic senators joined their Republican colleagues in voting to pass a continuing resolution that would reopen the government after a 41-day shutdown. However, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) still voted against it because it does not address the “healthcare crisis.” York explained on the Hugh Hewitt Show on Tuesday that the Democrats “don’t agree” on healthcare being the reason why they shut down the government.
“There appears to be an argument brewing among Democrats over why they shut the government down. And they don’t agree with each other on why they did what they did,” York said.
York cited a New York Times article that quoted Democratic senators saying they supported the shutdown to oppose “Trump’s authoritarianism.”
“I guess all that stuff they said about Obamacare and subsidies and healthcare for millions of Americans, etc., they didn’t actually mean it,” York said. “And that this was more of a just kind of a generalized anti-Trump protest, which makes it even less sense because there was absolutely no actual goal.”
The premium Obamacare tax credits were enhanced under the Biden administration amid the COVID-19 pandemic. These credits are set to expire at the end of this year, nearly 2 1/2 years after former President Joe Biden declared the pandemic over. However, Schumer maintains that the government shutdown centered on extending healthcare subsidies.
A Congressional Budget Office report estimated that permanently extending the enhanced credits would cost the government $383 billion. However, if they permanently expire, the number of Americans without health insurance would rise by an average of 3.8 million annually until 2034.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) projected that a bill on the Obamacare subsidies deadline, meant to expire at the end of this year, could be expected in “mid-December.”
“We’re going to have a vote, and I believe there are a number of Republicans who are going to join us in trying to address healthcare costs for Americans,” Shaheen said. “We believe there are a lot of Republicans — including a lot of Trump supporters — who want to see us do something about this because their costs are going up.”
WHY DID DEMOCRATS FIGHT SO LONG — BEFORE CAVING?
Shaheen said the defecting senators have “kept leadership informed throughout” negotiations.
The continuing resolution would keep the government funded through Jan. 31.
