The U.S. Senate failed to pass continuing resolution in a 55 to 45 vote that would have kept the federal government for another seven weeks. With funding authorized only through Sept. 30, the government is set to shutdown Wednesday just after midnight.
While Republicans hold a 53-47 majority, 60 votes were required for the resolution to pass, meaning bipartisan support was required.
Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner voted with most Democrats and all but one Republican against the resolution.
Democrats said they would not support a resolution without an extension of Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits. The credits, which keep health insurance affordable for individuals who purchase it through the ACA marketplace, are set to expire at the end of the year unless Congress acts to extend them. Without them, experts warn millions could face skyrocketing health insurance costs or become uninsured.
“I can tell you in Virginia, we’ve looked at examples of folks in their 60s making $80,000 a year in Virginia Beach that could see premium increases of $800 a month,” Warner said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon. “Nobody wants a shutdown.”
Warner said that Congress could not afford to punt on this issue, particularly when enrollment through the ACA marketplace begins November 1.
How a federal shutdown could impact Hampton Roads
In a video posted to social media ahead of the vote, Kaine criticized Trump for telling Republicans not to work with Democrats.
“Democrats put an alternate on the table that we think is better for the Americans in health care, but it’s also really important — it makes sure a deal’s a deal,” he said. “What we’ve seen is Donald Trump will enter into a deal and then immediately the next day start tearing it up, canceling funds, firing people, laying off contractors.”
The Senate also failed to pass the Democrats’ competing proposal.
Republicans have said that the issue should be negotiated outside of the short-term resolution to fund the government, and that Democrats are attempting to provide benefits to migrants in the US illegally. Federal law does not currently allow undocumented immigrants to receive federal health care. A provision in President Donald Trump’s budget reconciliation bill that passed in July removed premium tax credits for lawfully present migrants — groups that include refugees and asylees. Democrats want to restore access for those groups and undo Medicaid cuts contained in the July bill.
Virginia’s Senate Republican Caucus sent a letter to Kaine and Warner Tuesday afternoon urging them to pass the continuing resolution.
“As former Governors of the Commonwealth of Virginia, you both understand the importance of responsible budgeting and the harm that uncertainty in government operations brings to families, workers, and communities,” the letter read. “A government shutdown, even a temporary one, creates unnecessary instability. While federal employees will eventually receive retroactive pay, the disruption of their paychecks inflicts real hardship on families who depend on consistent income to meet their obligations.”
The last stopgap funding measure was passed in March, and both Kaine and Warner voted in favor of that plan.
Census data reports more than 300,000 federal civilian workers in Virginia. The Weldon-Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia reported in July that more than 11,000 employees had been impacted by federal workforce reductions.
“What I hear from federal workers is that they’ve been on a slow shutdown firing since the beginning of this administration and want us to push back,” Warner said. “(Trump’s) thinking that these workers, their families, are trading blocks or can be fired willy-nilly.”
In the video, Kaine said that federal workers would get backpay when the government re-opens.
“Getting backpay isn’t the same thing as getting your paycheck on time, so we need to work to make sure that if there is a shutdown, it’s a very short one,” he said.
Kate Seltzer, kate.seltzer@virginiamedia.com, (757)713-7881