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As the government shutdown reaches the monthlong milestone, both parties agree on two things: The pain is mounting, and that the other party should give in. Republicans and Democrats widely acknowledge how the shutdown is hurting Americans. They see food benefits running out, more missed paychecks on the horizon and the prospect of low-income pregnant women, infants and children in the WIC assistance program not receiving aid. But, thus far, the general reaction from lawmakers in both parties has been to argue that this latest pain point is just evidence that the other side needs to succumb to the demands of their party. Republicans say the quickest way to address the escalating pain is to pass the GOP’s short-term spending bill that the House approved last month, which most Senate Democrats have shot down 13 times. Ask a GOP lawmaker about, say, the approaching cliff for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and they’ll agree it’s a major problem. “It’s a serious issue, that’s 40 million Americans,” Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said. “It affects a lot of people, and my desire is to have this settled a month ago.” But ask Lankford whether that SNAP cliff is affecting his thinking, and he’ll suggest “the only way” to fix the problem is for Democrats to support the Republican-continuing resolution. “It’s the only vehicle that’s ready right now,” Lankford said. Democrats say that proposal is a nonstarter — not because they disagree with anything in the bill, but because they want a fix to expiring Obamacare tax credits included in the legislation. Not extending those subsidies, Democrats warn, will cause health-care premiums to skyrocket for millions of Americans. But ask a Republican such as Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., whether open enrollment starting on Nov. 1 is an incentive for Republicans to start negotiating with Democrats, and he’ll tell you that it’s actually “a lot of incentive for Democrats to finally come to their senses and reopen the government so we can have that discussion.” “Every day that they get closer to the next pain point is to their disadvantage, and frankly, I think it exposes them to the wrath of what they consider to be their own base,” Cramer said. Democrats, of course, see it the other way. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday afternoon he believes there will be “increased pressure” on Republicans to negotiate with Democrats once open enrollment begins. But so far, that hasn’t happened — and the belief that President Donald Trump will come to the table once he sees the scope of the rising premiums may not bear out. Democrats do, however, agree that the SNAP cliff is a big problem. From their perspective, that’s just all the more reason Republicans should work out a broader deal, with some Democrats taking offense to the suggestion that Republicans suddenly care more about food benefits than their party. “This is the same party that cut billions of dollars from SNAP benefits in order to fund tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy,” Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., told MSNBC, referring to the GOP reconciliation bill over the summer. “Now they are suddenly the protectors of people on SNAP benefits? It’s all BS.” Gallego noted that, even if Congress approves funding, GOP lawmakers could claw the dollars back through rescissions — something Republicans have already done this year. “I don’t trust them,” Gallego said. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., a moderate Democrat who broke with the majority of her party in March to support a GOP funding bill, agreed that Congress has to address SNAP running out of money. But she suggested that it shouldn’t come in lieu of Congress addressing the expiring Obamacare tax credits. “We gotta be able to provide the SNAP benefits that people are entitled to, and the premium tax credits that will make health insurance affordable, and keep the government open,” Shaheen said. The hardening of positions comes as the shutdown is on the brink of its fifth week, inching closer to breaking the current record for the longest shutdown in history: the 35-day lapse in funding of 2018-19. During previous shutdowns, mounting pain was a key part of solving the impasses. The 2013 shutdown ended, in large part, because the U.S. was about to reach the debt limit, and a major reason the 2018-19 shutdown ended was because air traffic controllers stayed home and grounded flights. But this time around, lawmakers are looking at the pain and suggesting it’s a key reason why the other side should relent. There is hardly any inward reflection — and neither side is seeing much political blowback, with Americans narrowly blaming Republicans more than Democrats for the shutdown in polls. “I believe both sides think they’re either winning or they’re not losing, and that’s not fertile ground for any change,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. “For another week or two.” For a potentially record-breaking shutdown, the standoff has been marked by how little Republicans and Democrats are talking. The GOP position, in fact, is that they have nothing to discuss. Republicans say they will only talk about those expiring subsidies once the government is reopened. Democrats say that will leave Americans making health-care decisions with incomplete information. Democrats think Americans should know what they’ll be paying for Obamacare before they’re forced to make those decisions during open enrollment, and they refuse to accept on blind faith that Republicans will extend subsidies in some form. With those positions established — for Republicans, that there is nothing to discuss, and for Democrats, that the GOP has to come to the table — there’s been very little movement over the past month. Even a statement from the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union representing federal workers that has traditionally supported Democrats, did little to change the dynamic this week — even as AFGE called on Democrats to pass the Republican spending bill and stop “punishing the people who keep our nation running.” Most Democrats were simply incredulous about the statement. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., noted that he works very closely with that union. “The AFGE would not want us to cut a deal and then have Trump fire a bunch of people next week,” Kaine said. “If we cut a deal and then he did that, they would come to us and say, ‘What the hell were you guys thinking?’” When reporters asked Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., about the AFGE statement on Monday, he reiterated the general Democratic position: “I don’t like shutdowns.” “I think we should never have a shutdown,” Peters said. “That’s why I hope Republicans would come with us and find common ground.” When NOTUS asked Peters whether he agreed with AFGE’s position that the GOP funding bill should pass, he made it clear that Democrats still wanted a resolution on the Obamacare subsidies. “So I’m going to do that,” he said. And then he succinctly summed up how lawmakers — and outside groups — seem to be talking past one another. “I agree, we don’t want a shutdown,” Peters said. “We want to end the shutdown as quickly as possible, I totally agree with that.”
