WASHINGTON — The U.S. government shutdown entered its sixth day Monday with no end in sight after another round of blame games and sniping between leaders of the two parties on the Sunday talk shows.
Democratic and Republican leaders are locked in a standoff about the way forward as it takes 60 votes in the Senate to pass a bill, and the GOP needs five more Democrats to advance its bill to reopen the government temporarily.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has called it a partisan bill written without Democratic input, demanding a negotiation to win the necessary votes from his party. But Republican leaders insist there will be no negotiation over their short-term bill.
“We ought to be talking about the real issue here, which is that we have a health care crisis in America caused by the Republicans,” Schumer said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “They’ve … barreled us towards a shutdown because they don’t want to deal with that crisis. Plain and simple.”
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President Donald Trump is declining to take a clear position on whether to extend Obamacare subsidies, the main Democratic demand and a central sticking point in the standoff. The subsidies are set to expire at the end of the year, which would result in major health insurance premium increases for people on the Affordable Care Act.
“We want to fix it so it works,” Trump said Sunday when NBC News asked him whether he’s open to extending the funding. “It’s not working. Obamacare has been a disaster for the people, so we want to have it fixed so it works.”
The Senate is back in session Monday and is expected to hold more votes on the GOP funding bill and a Democratic alternative, which would extend Obamacare funding and repeal Trump’s $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., wouldn’t commit to extending the Obamacare money, saying it’s a discussion he’s open to having — but only if Democrats relent and reopen the government.
“Release the hostage. We’ll have that conversation,” Thune said on Fox News. “That is a program, by the way, that is desperately in need of reform. You cannot just extend it, flat extend it. It is too flawed.”
House members were supposed to return to Washington this week, but Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., canceled votes for the entire week, saying the chamber had already done its job and passed a funding bill back on Sept. 19.
Some members of both parties, however, say that’s an attempt by Johnson to avoid a vote to require the Justice Department to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. A bipartisan House duo is expected to have the signatures they need to force a vote on the Epstein issue when the House returns to Washington and Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., is sworn in.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said on X: “Why are we in recess? Because the day we go back into session, I have 218 votes for the discharge petition to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files. @SpeakerJohnson doesn’t want that to be the news.”
Johnson denied that’s the reason.
“This has nothing to do with that,” he said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “It’s another red herring. The reason the government is closed is because Chuck Schumer and 43 of his Democratic colleagues in the Senate have decided now to vote multiple times to keep the government closed.”
House Democrats plan to hold a virtual meeting at 6 p.m. ET Monday, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told colleagues in a letter.
“We are ready to sit down at any time, with anyone and at any place to negotiate a bipartisan spending agreement, reopen the government and address the Republican healthcare crisis,” the Democratic leaders wrote.
Jeffries dug in Sunday at an event in New York City.
“What Republicans have unleashed in terms of this health care crisis that they have created is unprecedented, unconscionable and un-American,” he said. “The largest cut to Medicaid in American history. … Republicans have refused to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, and as a result of that, tens of millions of people, including many right here in New York City are about to experience dramatically increased premiums, copays and deductibles.”