Democratic U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, accompanied by Democratic U.S. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, points to a poster showing rising medical costs if Congress allows tax breaks under the Affordable Care Act to expire. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Late Sunday evening, seven Democratic U.S. senators, including John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and one independent senator, joined their Republican colleagues to overcome a filibuster and proceed to vote to reopen the government. This is a signal that the shutdown, which has already lasted a record 40 days, may soon come to an end.
However, Rep. Brendan Boyle (R-Philadelphia) is urging his colleagues to reject the current proposal if it reaches the House floor.
“This bill, which in no way addresses the health care crisis and only contains a vague reference to the promise of a Senate vote in a month, is completely inadequate to address the health care crisis facing the American people,” Boyle said at a news conference Monday.
The shutdown was initiated by Democrats who demanded that Republicans restore so-called enhanced premium tax credits for people receiving health care under the Affordable Care Act. Nearly 22 million Americans have no premium tax credits including approximately 500,000 Pennsylvanians, their monthly health care premiums will more than double average current rates.
Get our top stories delivered straight to your inbox every morning. Sign up now for the Pennsylvania Capital-Star Morning Guide.
For nearly 40 days, Democrats refused to join Republicans in voting to fund the government without a deal to restore premium tax breaks before they expire at the end of the year. But on Sunday they agreed to fund the government through January, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-D) promised the chamber would vote on extending them in the coming month.
“We have little promise of a possible future vote with no guarantee of passage and no commitment from House or White House leadership,” Boyle said. “So basically we have a promise about nothing.”
Boyle was joined by Vicki Miller, leader of Indivisible Philadelphia, an organization that advocates for progressive causes.
Miller said Democratic senators who voted to continue voting to reopen the government actually turned against voters across the country who delivered the party a series of victories in local and statewide elections last Tuesday, including maintaining a liberal majority on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
“We were able to give the Democrats a huge victory,” she said. “We’re just surprised they gave up so easily.”
Fetterman, who opposed the shutdown from the beginning, was one of the Democrats who voted with his GOP colleagues to reopen the government.
“After 40 days as a consistent voice against shutting down our government, I voted YES for the 15th time to REOPEN,” Fetterman wrote on social media platform X. “I apologize to our military, SNAP recipients, government workers and the Capitol Police who have not been paid for weeks. It should never have come to this. It was a failure.”
As a result of the shutdown, millions of Americans’ access to food assistance funds has been jeopardized, delayed or interrupted, and many government workers, including some members of the military, have gone without pay.
However, the proposed agreement to end the shutdown would reinstate federal workers laid off in the last 40 days and provide back pay to furloughed federal workers, something the Trump administration doesn’t have to do, even though it was required by a 2019 law signed during the president’s first term. It would also allow funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program until September 2026.
Maureen May, president of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, joined Boyle on Monday in opposing a move by Fetterman, six of his Democratic colleagues and Sen. Angus King of Maine (an independent who is debating with Democrats) to accept the deal and lend a hand Republicans overcome the filibuster.
The battle to close the plant is coming to an end, but Trump won’t give up on trying to deny full SNAP benefits
From her perspective, making health care affordable is worth the transient pain of a federal government shutdown.
Working as a nurse before the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2008, she said she saw what happened when patients couldn’t afford health insurance.
“Patients will end up in the emergency room. People will give up their medications. They will ratione. Our patients will be sicker when they enter the emergency room,” she said. “These are the consequences of 150,000 people losing premium cuts and the ability to care for themselves and their families.”
The Pennsylvania Department of Insurance has estimated that 150,000 Pennsylvanians could lose health insurance altogether if enhanced premium tax credits expire and monthly premiums on their marketplace plans raise.
To pass the proposed bill, the Senate will still have to hold a formal vote on it, which is expected to take place on Monday evening. The House would then have to agree to the bill before it could go to President Donald Trump for his signature.
Although only a straightforward majority is required in the House and Senate, and both chambers are controlled by Republicans, Boyle says he will continue to fight to keep the government shutdown in place without a decisive agreement to extend the increased premium tax breaks.
“We have total unity among House Democrats, from our leader all the way down,” Boyle said. “The first time around, few Republicans in the House of Representatives voted against this proposal. Many – perhaps several dozen or more – Republicans in Congress will face very difficult re-elections next year. They have an interest in working with us on this issue and solving the health care crisis now.”
However, it is unclear whether any Republicans will step down.
Rep. Scott Perry (Cumberland), a member of the Freedom Caucus representing one of Pennsylvania’s most competitive districts, the 10th, said he will not change his position.
“After 41 days of ‘expropriating’ people’s lives, it appears that at least 8 Democrats have received the message that trying to put their most radical demands on the backs of the American people will not be successful,” he wrote on Facebook. “WE MUST GET BACK TO WORK.”
