Shutdown Risks Rise as Dems Stand Firm on Health Care

Democratic Representative Dina Titus of Nevada said Republicans are refusing to negotiate on health care and that raises the risks of a standoff on a stopgap government funding bill.

Out-of-power Democrats have been unable to slow down the president’s agenda or even make headlines in Donald Trump’s Washington.

They could do both by risking an Oct. 1 US government shutdown, a strategy that party leaders have now embraced.

It’s a remarkable turnaround for a risk-averse party that just six months ago capitulated to Trump and congressional Republicans to avert a disruption of government services.

At the time, Democratic leaders feared the newly inaugurated president was too popular to take on. But they’re now under increasing pressure from their restive base to go to the mat to prevent a spike in Obamacare premiums and at least try to reverse deep cuts to Medicaid enacted in Trump’s $4 trillion tax and spending cut legislation.

“Bewildering why Dems haven’t been more focused on THAT for weeks heading into the current standoff,” longtime Democratic strategist David Axelrod mused on X about the percolating health-care debate. “It’s something that matters to folks, regardless of party.”

Democrats have actually held press conferences on the issue for weeks but the message barely registers in news cycles dominated by Trump. As a result, Democrats have appeared largely absent from governing, a position that has brought their favorability ratings to historic lows.

An Economist/YouGov poll conducted Sept. 12 to Sept. 15 found 33% of respondents viewed Democrats favorably compared to 60% unfavorable, and only 26% found the party effective. The GOP polled at 38% favorable in the same poll with an effectiveness rating of 52%.

Sagging poll numbers — combined with Republican efforts to redraw House district maps in their favor — have Democrats concerned about their midterm chances.

Texas has already altered its map to give the GOP five more seats, a move that could be countered by a California effort to gerrymander if voters approve of the plan in November. But other GOP-led states like Missouri, Indiana and Ohio are in the process of adding more Republican-safe seats as well.

Meanwhile, just enough moderate Republicans have expressed worry about expiring Obamacare subsidies and Trump’s cuts to medical research to make a partisan deal seem possible.

All of this has many Democrats spoiling for a fight, ratcheting up the chances of a shutdown with less than two weeks to go. And once it begins, there may be no easy way out, especially if Trump decides to use the shutdown to exert more executive authority.

Communications Breakdown

Republicans need at least seven Democratic votes to push a spending bill through the Senate, giving the minority in that chamber significant leverage if Democratic leader Chuck Schumer can keep his members in line.

But Senate Majority Leader John Thune so far is calling Schumer’s bluff and the leaders have yet to meet. The standoff between the two men — whose offices are on the same floor of the Capitol — has led to finger pointing over who is to blame for the communications breakdown.

“We are hoping there are Democrats out there who think it’s a really bad idea to shut down the government,” Thune told reporters.

Democrats released a proposal seeking to tie a long-term extension of expiring Obamacare tax subsidies, a proposal that could cost hundreds of billions, to a government funding extension. The plan would also reverse Medicaid cuts enacted in July as part of Trump’s signature $4 trillion tax and spending cut bill.

Thune had earlier told reporters any counteroffer with major healthcare provisions attached to a short term spending bill is “totally unserious” and that a discussion of Obamacare subsidies can happen at a later date.

Schumer, in turn, faulted Republicans for not being willing to negotiate at all and seeking to jam Democrats instead with a take-it-or-shut-down offer.

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