By Thérèse Boudreaux | (The Center Square) – The ongoing government shutdown has dragged on for a month as Senate Democrats have blocked Republicans’ temporary funding bill more than a dozen times.
With senators heading home for the weekend and no end to the shutdown in sight, Republicans may have to rewrite the House-passed Continuing Resolution to push forward its original Nov. 21 funding end date.
The CR would have originally provided lawmakers a seven-week window to finish all 12 annual appropriations bills for fiscal year 2026 as federal funding remained on cruise control. But lawmakers have now wasted over half that time period due to the shutdown.
Democrats are sticking with their health care policy ultimatums. In exchange for Democratic votes, they want Republican leaders to guarantee an extension of the pandemic-era expansion of Obamacare Premium Tax Credits, set to expire Dec. 31. Republicans have refused.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has advised against extending the expanded PTC, warning lawmakers that if they agree to the $350 billion proposal cost, they will make the government reopening the most expensive in American history.
Both sides blame each other for the shutdown.
Republican leaders are accusing Democrats of “weaponizing” a normally bipartisan funding process, pointing out that the CR includes no partisan add-ons. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Thursday that Democrats are “grasping at straws.”
“The other day the Democrat leader came to the floor and tried to reboot the notion that the clean CR sitting before us here in the Senate is a partisan CR. … Apparently a bill with no partisan add-ons, strictly a bill to fund the government, is a partisan bill,” Thune quipped.
Democrats have countered that they cannot agree to a funding deal that fails to address the health care tax credits.
“Healthcare premiums are about to skyrocket. But Republicans have spent their entire shutdown with their heads in the sand,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., posted on social media Thursday.
“Republicans are ready to reopen the government today. And we’re not demanding a single thing in exchange. It’s the Democrats who are refusing,” Thune shot back.
All but three non-Republican senators have voted 13 times against reopening the government.
“Democrats are ready to continue this shutdown – I guess forever. Do Democrats have any – any – end date in sight?” Thune asked. “Are there any consequences bad enough to get Democrats to reopen the government again? Because things are getting pretty serious here.”
One of the most serious consequences of the shutdown involves food security for tens of millions of Americans, who won’t receive SNAP benefits for the month of November. It would mark the first time in modern history that SNAP benefits will have completely halted.