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LOADINGERROR LOADING WASHINGTON — Democrats emerged from a two-hour closed-door meeting on Thursday projecting a unified front in their fight for lower health care costs, likely ensuring the longest-ever government shutdown will drag on into the weekend and possibly beyond. “We had a really good conversation where we know what our mission is to try to take the message from Tuesday that people want us to fight to keep costs down and we want to stay together,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said, referring to his party’s big electoral victories across the country that have rattled Republicans, including President Donald Trump. Advertisement Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), a key moderate involved in bipartisan talks to reopen the government, told HuffPost he didn’t expect a funding deal in the near term. “I think we’re very unified on a number of items, and we’re going to continue to work going forward,” Peters said of his caucus. Republicans had been waiting to see whether Democrats would agree to their offer to reopen the government that included the promise of a future vote on extending enhanced subsidies for millions of Americans who are enrolled in the Affordable Care Act. Some moderate Democrats have seemed open to that proposal, engaging in talks with rank-and-file Republican senators over the past several weeks. Advertisement But most Democratic senators aren’t willing to accept a mere vote on the subsidies without a guarantee that it would succeed in both chambers of Congress and be signed into law by Trump. On Thursday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said he wouldn’t agree to allowing a future House vote on a bill addressing the subsidies. “I’m not promising anybody anything. I’m going to let this process play out,” Johnson told reporters. But Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said he thought it was “reasonable” for senators to seek assurances any bipartisan deal in the Senate could at least get a House vote. Advertisement “We have to disabuse ourselves of any notion that every vote in the House is going to be shirts and skins,” Tillis told HuffPost, referring to House Republican leaders’ preference for having a majority of their own members on any given vote. “The speaker is going to have to determine whether or not he wants to put a vote on the floor that may pass with significant Democrat votes and maybe minority Republican votes.” Meanwhile, the impacts of the shutdown are getting worse. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have already missed multiple paychecks. Every day since Saturday, millions of people have missed federal food benefits that aren’t being delivered to their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program debit cards. Starting this weekend, the Federal Aviation Administration will reduce flights by 10% to reduce the strain on air traffic controllers ― potentially resulting in major delays. Momentum in the Senate had been trending toward a bipartisan deal to reopen the government until Tuesday’s elections, when Democrats swept just about every office up for grabs. Democrats didn’t just win; they notched historic margins in both Virginia and New Jersey, and saw Latinos, a key voting bloc, shift away from Republicans amid broad voter dissatisfaction with Trump’s economy and the cost of living. Advertisement For now, Democrats are united in calling on Trump to get engaged and host bipartisan negotiations over health care. The president acknowledged this week that the shutdown had cost Republicans at the ballot box, but instead of trying to get an agreement to reopen the government, as Democrats had hoped, Trump urged Republicans to ignore Democrats and eliminate the filibuster to pass a funding bill. “If they want to end this, we could end it,” Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) told reporters on Thursday. “The president should bring people together.” TheBacklashis Here! Your SupportFuelsOur Mission Your SupportFuelsOur Mission Cut Through The Chaos Americans just sent Trump a clear message — and Dems are calling it "a 5-alarm fire" for the president. Our reporters are here to keep you informed and make sense of Washington's chaos. Join HuffPost and be part of what happens next. We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves. Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again. We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves. Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again. Support HuffPost Already a member? Log in to hide these messages. Republicans are planning another vote on Friday on the House-passed bill to fund the government. According to Politico, they want to amend the legislation to include a package of bipartisan appropriations bills as a way to entice moderate Democrats. But that likely won’t go anywhere without a resolution to the impasse over the expiring Obamacare tax credits. Advertisement Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) expressed his frustration with the Democratic blockade on Day 37 of the shutdown and reiterated that Republicans are willing to discuss Obamacare only after the government is funded. “We’re just not going to have that conversation while Democrats are holding the federal government hostage,” Thune said in a speech on the Senate floor, adding, “We’re just waiting for Democrats to take yes for an answer.”
