Weeks into the government shutdown, enough Democrats last night accepted a Republican package to end the government shutdown – short of the goals of protecting support for health care offered under the Affordable Care Act.
The Senate on proposals from a bipartisan group of moderate senators was a preliminary process that still will require formal votes in the Senate and in the House and Donald Trump’s signature. The proposals extend government funds through January and add separate spending measures to cover programs related to agriculture, military construction, legislative agencies for most of 2026, and back pay for those furloughed. It calls for the administration’s announced layoffs to be halted.
It was not immediately how this would solve cancellation of government supports toward health care rates under Obamacare for those who do not get employer-paid health insurance. As a result, Democrats who were holding out apparently are furious at both Republicans and those Democrats who chose to cave for a promise to bring a health care bill to the floor after the government re-opens. That vote is sure to fail.
Republicans had rejected a Democratic proposal to seek only a single-year’s guaranteed on health rates. Meanwhile, blame and contention filled the airwaves. While even Donald Trump acknowledged that the shutdown played into election results favoring his Democratic opponents, he has failed to connect that thought to his own aloofness and his own policies.
Instead, he promoted wacky, out-of-the-blue proposals. One was to send health care monies to individuals to buy their own health care, as if reliance on widespread participation from the relatively healthy were not needed to offset systematic costs for the ill. And he vowed to send $2,000 dividend checks to every taxpayer from tariff revenues. Naturally, there were no details, and a lot of hesitation from staffers.
Let’s be clear: Despite the shutdown, Trump is finding money for things that he wants done, including pay for the military, the frenzied deportation roundups with armed federal agents on the streets of Chicago, border enforcement. And at the very same time, he is willing to let issues of food, health and safety protections lapse.
Disagreement Has Turned Ugly
It has been bad enough that we have a government shutdown.
But the Trump administration’s view of what to do about it has simply made things worse with air travel cancellations and the withholding of food stamp aid. Apparently, Trump believes that if you force enough misery, opponents will come around to your way of thinking just to make the pain stop.
Somehow, playing ego games with legislators by using vulnerable taxpayers as pawns seems like bad politics as well as morally wrong. Whatever else might go into a shutdown fix-it solution, for Trump to play with other people’s lives and then to blame Democrats seems way over the edge.
Indeed, the day-by-day failure to deal with the shutdown just makes the problems seem worse.
Just yesterday, we learned that The Trump administration told states that they must “immediately undo” any actions to provide full food stamp benefits to low-income families, under threat of financial penalty. This came in the legal challenge moving through appeals in federal court and left officials and recipients uncertain about next steps,
It’s a perfect reflection of power politics over shutdown putting the vulnerable in the bureaucratic crosshairs. No one takes credit for chaos.
Confrontation, not Negotiation
Ridiculous as it seems, the White House answer to shutdown is that Americans should be squeezed rather than have the Art of the Deal guy sit down with Democratic lawmakers worried about people losing their health insurance.
Democrats must see that there will be limitations in any such negotiations, but other than banging the table, seem unable to bring about even a meeting with Trump.
Trump can blame Democrats all he wants for putting a health agenda on the table as the price to re-open the government, stopping holiday air traffic and withholding food stamps hardly seem the right response. Republicans who control the White House, the House and Senate have achieved Shutdown Stalemate, not an understandable problem-solving path.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., makes his surrender terms sound simple, but it comes down to Democrats agreeing to okay a budget that will pay for food aid and working airports for one that drops millions from health care.
For months, Republicans have refused to talk with Democrats about health issues but say they will invite discussion only after they get the “clean” continuing resolution measure that endorses health care cuts.
What About the Politics?
Even if the shutdown clears, the political battles will remain over health care, and over how to defend stubbornness, After all the fighting and bad effects, is anyone better off?
After last week’s election, Trump and Republicans see the same adverse electoral map developing as do Democrats. Trump wants the filibuster removed in the Senate to ease legislation now to slam through various pieces of financial and social bills before there is a possibility of losing majorities.
In a world in which Trump is using apparently illegal powers to refuse to spend already congressionally approved money, in which Trump unconstitutionally insists on dictating what Congress will pass and how, and in which appears to have violated the Constitution about tariffs, why should Democrats trust that he will get around to negotiating about health care.
Instead, of course, we have seen Trump partying at Mar-a-Lago, rebuilding and gilding the White House, seeing reports about FBI director Kash Patel jetting around on taxpayers’ dime to see his girlfriend and for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem buying two jets for her use. It’s all tone-deaf public activities that reflect a definite un-caring about what happens to federal employees, contractors, projects and American voters.
Until now, Trump has said the White House needs to lead to solve problems like shutdowns and should be blamed for unresolved conflicts. Now, of course, he wants to blame “radical” Democrats and Republicans who won’t throw out the filibuster rule to have simple majority votes in the Senate so Trump can force his way.
Apparently losing two governorships to Democrats in an election that was a distinct rebuke of Trump isn’t creating enough pain for Trump and congressional Republicans.
It’s a good case that those who can’t listen can never hear.
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