Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer proposed Friday that the Senate pass a one-year extension of the Affordable Care Act health insurance subsidies in exchange for reopening the government.
Republicans were quick to shoot the offer down. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, called it a “nonstarter” and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina called it “ridiculous.”
Schumer is proposing that the addition be attached to a continuing resolution to fund the government that has so far failed to pass 14 times in the Senate and is up for a 15th vote this afternoon.
“Democrats are ready to clear the way to quickly pass a government funding bill that includes health care affordability,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Friday afternoon. “[Senate Majority Leader John] Thune just needs to add a clean one-year extension of the ACA tax credits to the CR so that we can immediately address rising health care costs.”
Schumer is also proposing a “bipartisan committee” to negotiate a longer-term deal on the healthcare subsidies.
This is the first time Democrats have formally proposed a one-year extension, as opposed to an open-ended one.
“We are not asking to make any changes to the current law, “ Sen. Gary Peters, a Democrat from Michigan, added. “If we vote for this compromise, we could open up the government.”
Several other Senate Democrats, including Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota, Patty Murray from Washington, and John Hickenlooper of Colorado, also spoke on the Senate floor in support of the proposal.
The House Freedom Caucus, a group of Republican fiscal hawks in Congress, called the offer “absurd.” They wrote on X that Senate Democrats are “holding the entire country hostage to protect their failing health care scheme and enrich insurance companies.”