By Morgan Rimmer, Arlette Saenz, Tami Luhby, CNN
(CNN) — Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Wednesday he is open to discussing enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies – a priority of Democrats’ – but insisted that those negotiations cannot be tied to a stopgap government funding bill.
“This is a program that needs reform, but I think everybody is willing to sit down and talk about how to make that happen in a context where it should be discussed, not as a hostage to keep the government open,” Thune told CNN’s Dana Bash on “Inside Politics,” adding: “This is not the time, the place to do this.”
The Republican leader’s comments come as an end-of-month funding deadline looms over Washington. And with party leaders publicly at odds in recent days, the risk of a government shutdown is growing ever more serious.
Thune said he’s “happy to have the conversation,” though he said he was hoping that Democrats would “actually have a proposal.”
“What they’re talking about is a straight up extension, which as I said, cost $365 billion, has no reforms in it, and this is a program that’s desperately needed reform,” he said.
Democrats have centered their demands on health care. Their proposed funding bill included expensive health care changes, such as extending the enhanced subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year.
The more generous subsidies were passed in 2021 as part of a Biden administration pandemic relief package. If they are allowed to lapse, enrollees’ premiums could skyrocket by 75%, on average, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group. Some 4.8 million more people are expected to be uninsured in 2026 if the beefed-up subsidies expire, a recent Urban Institute report found.
While Republican leaders argue they still have time, Obamacare advocates and state exchange leaders say that it’s important to pass an extension before Americans start shopping for coverage next month. Otherwise, folks could be scared off by the higher premiums and smaller subsidies, making it harder to get them to sign up for 2026 coverage even if Congress eventually acts, they say. Open enrollment starts on November 1 in nearly all states.
Permanently expanding the subsidies would cost about $350 billion over the next decade and would result in 3.8 million more people having health insurance, according to a Congressional Budget Office analysis released last week.
Republicans have argued it’s inappropriate to add such provisions to a stopgap funding bill and that they should be negotiated as part of a year-end funding bill. They point to their proposal to fund the government through November 20 as a “clean” continuing resolution, or CR. It only includes, they say, $30 million in extra security money for members of Congress, $58 million for security for the executive and judicial branch and a funding “fix” for DC to adjust a mistake in an earlier bill.
Pressed by Bash on CNN’s reporting that he, along with House Speaker Mike Johnson, had encouraged President Donald Trump to cancel a meeting set for this week with Democratic congressional leaders, Thune acknowledged that the pair had talked, but insisted the president made his own decision.
“I spoke with the president, and I offer, as I often do, my opinions, but I generally don’t share those publicly. And as I said before, the president comes to his own conclusions. He spoke, I think, with Speaker Johnson as well,” said Thune.
“I think the president came to the conclusion that it wouldn’t be a productive meeting. The Democrats’ requests are completely unhinged and unreasonable and unserious, and if they want to have a serious conversation, I think that I’m sure the president would welcome, would be happy to do that.”
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and his House counterpart, Hakeem Jeffries, pointed Wednesday to the canceled meeting as evidence of Republicans’ culpability.
“After agreeing to our demand to meet to prevent a government shutdown, Donald Trump threw an unhinged temper tantrum and canceled the meeting. By refusing to so much as meet with Democrats, Donald Trump and Republicans are barreling the country toward a painful government shutdown,” Schumer and Jeffries said in a joint statement posted to X.
Schumer made a separate appeal in an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Wednesday, saying he thought the sides could reach agreement on some fronts.
“Sit down and talk to us. We can probably come to some agreements,” Schumer said. “There are a lot of people on his side who are upset about what’s happening on some of the areas of health care, particularly the ACA but others as well. Just sit and talk with us.”