Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) sent a letter to President Trump Saturday to demand a meeting to discuss the expiration of government funding on Sept. 30, which could result in a shutdown.
Alarms are flashing on Capitol Hill after the Senate rejected a seven-week continuing resolution (CR) that passed the House on a largely party-line vote, leaving leaders on both sides of the aisle at a stalemate over how to avoid a shutdown.
“We write to demand a meeting in connection with your decision to shut down the federal government because of the Republican desire to continue to gut the healthcare of the American people,” the Democratic leaders wrote in the letter.
Schumer and Jeffries pointedly criticized Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) for adjourning the House and Senate for a week despite the failure to reach a funding deal.
“At your direction, Republican congressional leaders have repeatedly and publicly refused to engage in bipartisan negotiations to keep the government open,” the lawmakers continued. “Notwithstanding the fact that the partisan Republican spending bill has been defeated, the GOP majorities in the House and Senate have skipped town abdicated their responsibility to fund the government.”
The Democratic leaders have demanded that Republicans address the expiration of Affordable Care Act premium subsidies before the end of October and to restore nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid funding that was cut under the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act.
“We will not support a dirty spending bill that continues the Republican assault on healthcare, which includes devastating Medicaid and Medicare cuts; skyrocketing premiums, co-pays, and deductibles; the refusal to extend the Affordable Crae Act tax credits; unprecedented attacks on medical research and the public health system; the suppression of vaccine availability; and the forced closure of hospitals, nursing homes and community-based health clinics nationwide,” they wrote.
The massive tax and spending bill did not make significant cuts to Medicare benefits, but Democrats argue the law will affect Medicare’s long-term solvency because it added an estimated $3.4 trillion to the national debt, putting more pressure on the federal government’s ability to pay out future benefits.
The law also narrows who is eligible for Medicare enrollment, limiting the criteria to include U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, Cuban and Haitian entrants but excluding other lawfully present immigrants.
Schumer and Jeffries said Republicans would bear responsibility for a shutdown because they have refused to negotiate with Democrats.
“With the Sept. 30th deadline fast approaching, Republicans will bear responsibility for another painful government shutdown because of the refusal of GOP congressional leadership to even talk with Democrats,” the added in the letter to Trump.
They argued that the president now has an “obligation to meet with us directly to reach an agreement to keep the government open.”
Trump on Friday sounded pessimistic about keeping the government open without interruption and suggested the Democratic demands are excessive.
“We’ll continue to talk to the Democrats, but I think you could very well end up with a closed country for a period of time,” he told reporters. “And we’ll take care of the military. We’ll take care of Social Security. We’ll take care of the things we have to take care of.
“A lot of the things Democrats fight for … will not be able to be paid,” the president added. “So, we’ll watch and see how we do with that.”
