Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said Friday that he prayed for patience after hearing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s latest proposal to end the ongoing government shutdown, now in its 37th day.
During an appearance on Fox News’ “The Story” with Martha MacCallum, Kennedy criticized Schumer’s plan as “the dumbest thing possible that won’t work,” rejecting the Democratic leader’s push to extend certain Obamacare subsidies enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Schumer, speaking earlier Friday on the Senate floor, said Democrats would agree to reopen the government if Republicans supported a one-year extension of the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits.
The measure, passed temporarily during the pandemic, provided expanded subsidies for individuals purchasing health insurance through the ACA exchanges.
Republicans have resisted making the temporary expansion permanent, arguing that it drives up federal spending and benefits insurance companies more than patients.
“God, please give me patience, because if, if you give me strength, I’m going to need bail money,” Kennedy told MacCallum, drawing laughter from the host.
“What Sen. Schumer is suggesting is that we do the dumbest thing possible that won’t work. Stupid should hurt more.”
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Kennedy argued that extending the subsidies would come at a high cost to taxpayers without lowering premiums.
“Sen. Schumer says we should just extend the status quo for a year. What does that mean? That means that we would have to take $35 billion of taxpayer money and give it directly to the health insurance companies without any commitment of lowering premiums,” he said.
“How is that going to reduce health care costs? How’s that going to reduce premiums?”
“The health care companies are going to take $35 billion from the taxpayers and put it into their pockets,” Kennedy continued.
“I mean, duh! I don’t know what Sen. Schumer is thinking. Earth to Chuck, I mean, Earth to Chuck. Am I going to vote for this? The short answer is no. The long answer is hell, no.”
The Louisiana senator said the shutdown is likely to continue because Democrats have repeatedly blocked Republican efforts to reopen the government.
“I think we’re just going to have to get used to the fact that we’ve been in a shutdown, we’re going to be in a shutdown for a while,” Kennedy said.
“I voted 14 times to lift the shutdown. The Democrats and Sen. Rand Paul have voted 14 times to keep the government shutdown. We’re just going to be here for a while.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune echoed Kennedy’s frustration, calling Schumer’s proposal unserious.
“They’re feeling the heat, and they know that their last proposal was unserious and unrealistic, so I guess you can characterize that as progress,” Thune told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“But I just don’t think that it gets anywhere close to what we need to do here, and they know it.”
Thune calls the Dems’ offer a “nonstarter,” says the Obamacare extension is the negotiation that will happen once the government is open.
“They’re feeling the heat, and they know that their last proposal was unserious and unrealistic, so I guess you can characterize that as…
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Schumer, however, said Democrats are prepared to move quickly if Republicans agree to the extension.
“Democrats are ready to clear the way to quickly pass a government funding bill that includes health care affordability,” Schumer said in his floor speech.
“Leader Thune just needs to add a clean one-year extension of the ACA tax credits to the CR so that we can immediately address rising health care costs.”
The Democratic leader has maintained that Republicans are to blame for prolonging the shutdown.
In an interview with Punchbowl News on October 9, Schumer said, “Every day gets better for us,” as the impasse continued.
Senate Democrats have blocked the continuing resolution 14 times so far, with another vote scheduled for Friday.
The standoff marks one of the longest shutdowns in recent history, with both parties showing little sign of compromise.
Republicans have continued to push for spending cuts and policy reforms in exchange for reopening the government, while Democrats insist on keeping the enhanced subsidies and other pandemic-era measures in place for at least another year.
