WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats are poised for the 10th time Thursday to reject a stopgap spending bill that would reopen the government, insisting they won’t back away from demands that Congress take up health care benefits.

The repetition of votes on the funding bill has become a daily drumbeat in Congress, underscoring how intractable the situation has become. At times, the spending bill has been the only item on the Senate floor’s agenda. Meanwhile, House Republicans have left Washington altogether.

The standoff has lasted over two weeks, leaving hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed and even more without a guaranteed payday, with Congress essentially paralyzed.

“Every day that goes by, there are more and more Americans who are getting smaller and smaller paychecks,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, adding that there have been thousands of flight delays across the country as well.

Thune, a South Dakota Republican, has repeatedly tried to pressure Democrats to break from their strategy of voting against the stopgap funding bill. It hasn’t worked. While some bipartisan talks have been ongoing about potential compromises on health care, they haven’t produced any meaningful progress toward reopening the government.

Democrats say they won’t budge until they get a guarantee on extending subsidies for health plans offered under Affordable Care Act marketplaces. They warned that millions of Americans who buy their own health insurance — including small business owners, farmers, and contractors — will see large premium increases in the coming weeks.

Looking ahead to a Nov. 1 deadline in most states, Democrats believe voters will demand that Republicans enter into serious negotiations.

“We have to do something, and right now, Republicans are letting these tax credits expire,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.

Still, Thune tried a different tactic Thursday, with a vote to proceed to appropriations bills — a move that could grease the Senate’s wheels into some action or simply deepen the divide between the two parties.

### A Deadline for Subsidies on Health Plans

Democrats have rallied around their priorities on health care as they hold out against voting for a Republican bill that would reopen the government. Yet they also warn that the time to strike a deal to prevent large premium increases is growing short.

When they controlled Congress during the pandemic, Democrats boosted subsidies for Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans. This effort pushed enrollment under President Barack Obama’s signature health care law to new levels and drove the uninsured rate to a historic low.

Nearly 24 million people currently get their health insurance from subsidized marketplaces, according to health care research nonprofit KFF.

Democrats and some Republicans worry that many of these people will forgo insurance if prices rise dramatically.

While the tax credits don’t officially expire until next year, health insurers will soon send out notices of premium increases. In most states, these notices go out starting Nov. 1.

Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said she has heard from “families who are absolutely panicking about their premiums that are doubling.”

“They are small business owners who are having to think about abandoning the job they love to get employer-sponsored health care elsewhere or just forgoing coverage altogether,” she added.

Murray also warned that if many people decide to leave their health plans, it could affect the entire medical insurance market because the pool of insured individuals would shrink, potentially causing higher prices across the board.

### Republican Perspectives and the Path Forward

Some Republicans have acknowledged the expiration of the tax credits could be problematic and have floated potential compromises to address it, though there is no clear consensus within the GOP.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) this week called the COVID-era subsidies a “boondoggle,” arguing that “when you subsidize the health care system and pay insurance companies more, the prices increase.”

Former President Donald Trump said he would “like to see a deal done for great health care,” but has not meaningfully weighed in on the ongoing debate.

Thune has insisted that Democrats first vote to reopen the government before any negotiations on health care can proceed.

If Congress were to engage in substantive negotiations on health care changes, it could take weeks or longer to reach a compromise.

### Votes on Appropriations Bills

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are setting up a vote Thursday to proceed to a bill that would fund the Defense Department and several other government areas. This move aligns with Thune’s priority of working through spending bills and could potentially pave the way to paying salaries for troops.

However, the House would eventually need to return to Washington to vote on a final bill negotiated between the two chambers.

Thune said this would be a step toward getting “the government funded in the traditional way, which is through the annual appropriations process.”

It wasn’t clear whether Democrats would support advancing the bills. They discussed the idea at their Wednesday luncheon and emerged saying they want to review the Republican proposal to ensure it includes appropriations that are priorities for them.

While these votes will not immediately end the government shutdown, they could at least shift the Senate’s focus to issues where some bipartisan agreement may be possible.
https://ktar.com/national-news/senate-democrats-holding-out-for-health-care-ready-to-reject-government-funding-bill-for-10th-time/5762129/