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U.S. House Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) advocates for the extension of subsidies to make healthcare more affordable. Nov. 3, 2025. Credit: McKenna Schueler<\/p>\nU.S. House Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) advocates for the extension of subsidies to make healthcare more affordable. Nov. 3, 2025. Credit: McKenna Schueler<\/p>\n
After seven weeks of a federal government shutdown that has led to flight cancellations and delays in food assistance to families, the U.S. Senate approved a funding agreement Monday that could reopen the government if approved by the House and signed into law by President Trump.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Democratic U.S. Congressman Maxwell Frost of Orlando, however, sharply rebuked the controversial deal for offering \u201cempty promises.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis funding fight was supposed to be about addressing the urgency of rising health care costs for 20 million Americans brought on by this administration\u2019s failed policies and Republican inaction. Instead, the Senate gave up in exchange for an empty promise for a vote on extending current health care subsidies, \u201d Frost said in a statement, echoing the concerns<\/a> of other Democrats who have described the deal as \u201clousy\u201d and \u201ccomplete BS.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAmericans don\u2019t need empty promises,\u201d Frost added. \u201cThey need to be able to afford their health care premiums.\u201d<\/p>\n Seven Democrats and one independent U.S. Senator joined Republicans (including Florida\u2019s two U.S. Senators) in voting 60-40 to approve the funding agreement Monday, which would effectively reopen the federal government. Just one Republican, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted against the deal<\/a>, according to the Washington Post. It\u2019s expected to head to the U.S House for a vote later this week.<\/p>\n Congressman Frost, a progressive Democrat from Orlando, says he\u2019s a firm \u201cno\u201d on the deal, noting it fails to directly address the expiration of Affordable Care Act tax credits at the end of the year. The expiration of the COVID-era tax credits could cause the monthly healthcare premiums of roughly 22 million Americans, including nearly 200,000 people in Frost\u2019s district, to more than double<\/a>. Locals who rely on their health insurance for life-saving medication are already sounding the alarm<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThis deal fails our communities who elected us to stand up for them, but the fight isn\u2019t over,\u201d Frost shared Monday. \u201cI believe that in the richest country on the face of the Earth, families deserve to get the care they need when they need it\u2014and I will fight like hell to make that a reality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The sort-of bipartisan deal reached between U.S. senators over the weekend offers no guaranteed extension of the enhanced ACA tax subsidies, which have helped make healthcare more affordable for millions of low- and middle-income Americans<\/a> who don\u2019t receive health insurance through an employer, including small business owners and the self-employed.<\/p>\n The deal approved Monday would reverse the layoffs of thousands of federal workers during the early days of the shutdown, fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) through September, and offer stopgap funding for most of the federal government\u2019s operations through Jan. 30, according to the Post.\u00a0<\/p>\n Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has also reportedly promised a vote by mid-December on whether to extend the ACA tax subsidies. But that promise falls short of the guaranteed extension that Democrats have been holding the line for over the last 42 days.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople need healthcare, damn it,\u201d U.S. Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) told<\/a> Axios. \u201cNot some lame promise about a mythical future vote.\u201d<\/p>\n The shutdown is now the longest in U.S. history. It\u2019s left hundreds of thousands of federal employees either furloughed or working without pay, including TSA officers and air traffic controllers who are considered essential to government operations.\u00a0<\/p>\n The air traffic control system already faced a staffing shortage of roughly 3,000 controllers<\/a> prior to the government shutdown. Now, the lack of pay afforded to controllers working 10-hour shifts during the shutdown has caused even greater staffing shortages, leading to flight delays and cancellations<\/a> at airports across the U.S., including Orlando International Airport.<\/p>\n \u201cFor decades, air traffic controllers have held the line through staffing shortages, outdated equipment, hiring freezes, terrorist attacks on September 11th, pandemics and every crisis that this country has lived through,\u201d said Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, a union that represents nearly 20,000 aviation safety professionals.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey have kept their focus, their composure and their commitment to safety, but now they must focus on childcare instead of traffic flows, food for their families instead of runway separation,\u201d Daniels noted during a press conference Monday. \u201cThis is not politics,\u201d he added. \u201cThis is not ideology. This is the erosion of the safety margin the flying public never sees, but [that] America relies on every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n This strain of the government shutdown on air travel, as Thanksgiving and the winter holidays approach, has added significant pressure to Congress to reach a deal to reopen the government. So has the unprecedented delay of SNAP benefits that help 42 million Americans, including nearly three million Floridians, buy groceries for themselves and their families.\u00a0<\/p>\n Although the Trump administration has said they have the money to fund SNAP for November, the administration has appealed court orders to do so<\/a>, agreeing only to fund partial benefits. <\/p>\n \u201cThe record here shows that the government sat on its hands for nearly a month, unprepared to make partial payments, while people who rely on SNAP received no benefits a week into November and counting,\u201d an appeals court said Sunday.<\/p>\n The seven Democrats who caved and joined Republicans in voting through the funding agreement Monday are all years away from re-election. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (who voted against the deal, despite playing a key role in negotiations) is consequently facing calls to resign<\/a> from some fellow Democrats and progressive groups like MoveOn and Our Revolution over his handling of the shutdown.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSenator Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced. If you can\u2019t lead the fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for?\u201d progressive Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA) wrote in a post on X.<\/p>\n The Florida Democratic Party also blasted the Senate\u2019s funding deal, opting to blame Republicans rather than any of the Democrats (or Schumer) who were complicit in its passage. <\/p>\n \u201cA temporary deal to end the shutdown without healthcare is not a real solution,\u201d said FDP chair Nikki Fried in a statement. <\/p>\n \u201cRepublicans have once again betrayed the American people,\u201d she argued. \u201cThis deal will force millions of Americans to choose between medicine or groceries. It doesn\u2019t have to be this way. A deal without health care is unacceptable \u2014 plain and simple.\u201d<\/p>\n Subscribe to Orlando Weekly newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Apple News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>\u00a0| Or sign up for our\u00a0RSS Feed<\/a><\/p>\n Related Stories<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tExpiring Affordable Care Act tax credits have been central to the funding fight behind the federal government shutdown\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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