Senate Democrats on Friday blocked a bill to pay federal workers who’ve gone without compensation during the 38-day government shutdown, after Republicans rejected Democrats’ offer to reopen the government with a one-year extension of enhanced Obamacare premium subsidies.
The moves suggest an end to the recording-breaking funding impasse is not imminent, but the Senate is planning to stay in session through the weekend in hopes that something breaks loose.
The 53-43 vote to begin debate on a bill to pay government workers fell short of the 60 needed to overcome a filibuster.
Three Democrats voted with all Republicans in support of the measure, while others argued it needed more guardrails to prevent the Trump administration from moving money around.
Earlier Friday, Democrats offered to end the shutdown if Republicans added a one-year extension of enhanced Obamacare premium subsidies to a stopgap spending bill needed to reopen the government.
“The Senate could do this within a few hours,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said. “This is a reasonable offer.”
The Democratic offer included plans for a bipartisan committee to work on long-term “reforms” to address health care costs, while honoring Republicans’ request not to start negotiations until after the shutdown ends by simply extending current law for one year, he said.
Republicans said the proposal was a “nonstarter” and they won’t let Democrats hold government funding “hostage” to secure unrelated policy demands. They also said the subsidies need to be overhauled so government money isn’t used to pad the profits of insurance companies or pay for plans that cover abortions.
“That’s what we’re going to negotiate, once the government opens up,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican.
As the stalemate continues, the two parties couldn’t even agree on a measure to pay federal workers who have gone without compensation for more than a month amid the record-breaking shutdown.
Democrats said they want to pay federal workers but argued the bill to do so from Sen. Ron Johnson, Wisconsin Republican, would give President Trump too much power because it because it does nothing to stop him from transferring money meant for paychecks elsewhere.
“The Johnson bill before us actually creates an unlimited and permanent slush fund for President Trump to use,” said Sen. Gary Peters, Michigan Democrat, noting it “omits the regular safeguards that we include in normal funding bills to ensure that money actually goes where Congress intends.”
Mr. Johnson said “there is no slush fund,” and his bill is “completely silent on presidential authority.”
“The money appropriated in this bill will go to pay federal workers,” he said, arguing that if Democrats are not satisfied with the language they could vote to proceed to the bill and offer an amendment.
Most Democrats did not vote to proceed; the three who did were New Mexico Sen. Ben Ray Luján and Georgia Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.
Democrats first blocked Mr. Johnson’s bill two weeks ago. The initial version he offered would have only paid essential employees who have been working during the shutdown, but he said Friday he had updated it to include pay for furloughed workers to address one of Democrats’ concerns.
Mr. Luján was the only senator to change his vote. Sen. John Fetterman, Pennsylvania Democrat, missed Friday’s vote but previously supported the measure.
Republicans expressed frustration with their colleagues across the aisle for keeping the government shuttered and not doing anything to help federal workers and others who are suffering from the shutdown’s consequences.
The Federal Aviation Administration has started reducing flights across the country because of the shutdown.
The government has run out or is nearing the end of its financial wiggle room to pay for many crucial government programs, like ones that help low-income families pay for groceries and utility bills.
“I just don’t know how you cannot have a heart to open up government,” said Sen. Rick Scott, Florida Republican.
Democrats counter that Republicans refusing to extend the enhanced Obamacare subsidies to prevent people’s health insurance premiums from skyrocketing are the callous ones.
“If Republicans win and if Democrats cave in, health care premiums are going to double and, in some cases, triple for many, many millions of people at a time when we’re already paying the highest prices in the world for health care,” said Sen. Bernard Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with the Democrats, said.
Republicans left a Friday afternoon meeting where they discussed the Democrats’ offer, bashing the Obamacare subsidies as a payout to insurance companies that do nothing to actually lower health care costs.
“We’re not going to continue for a year to load up insurance companies with taxpayer dollars to get an inferior outcome,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican who chairs the Budget Committee.
He said stock prices for the largest health care insurance companies in the country have soared since 2010 and premium prices have increased more than 150%.
“There’s a better way to do it,” Mr. Graham said.
Several Republicans carried a graph showing seven insurance companies’ stock price increases from March 2010, when Obamacare was enacted, to the current month.
UnitedHealth Group’s stock price rose from $25.66 per share to $327.74, a 1,177% increase. Other companies on the list saw increases ranging from 414% to 859%.
“No one has to argue with me that insurance company profits are excessive, as are drug company profits,” Mr. Sanders said, noting he found it “very ironic” that Republicans are making that point.
“The logical conclusion, maybe, is that we do what every other major country on Earth does and guarantee health care to all people through a Medicare for all, single-payer system,” he said. “Are the Republicans saying that? They’re not.”
Republicans say they’re working on developing their own health care plan, but how quickly something like that would come together remains to be seen.
“We truly do understand how broken Obamacare is,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, South Dakota Republican, said. “But the direction has got to be: Fix the fraud, fix the abuse … provide for a little bit more of a choice for a lot of these American people, reconsider the upper limit in terms of who can actually get some of the credits.”
Mr. Peters, who came up with the Democratic offer, said they plan to keep pushing their plan as a “common-sense solution.”
He said negotiating changes to the subsidies is going to take a lot of time, so that’s why Democrats are proposing to do that after a one-year extension to ensure people don’t lose their health care coverage for 2026.
“It’s mind-blowing to me that 24 million people are facing a significant, horrible situation with large increases in premiums, and most of the districts are districts that Republicans represent,” Mr. Peters said.
