As the government shutdown comes to an end, Maine Governor Janet Mills has issued a statement slamming the Republican Party who control Congress and the White House for allowing the shutdown to go on for as long as it did.
She said:
“The Republicans who control Congress and the White House could have prevented this needless Federal shutdown or ended it at any point over the last 43 days. Instead, the shutdown – the longest in U.S. history – became an example of how cruel and callous Republicans are willing be to deny access to health care and take food from hungry children, families, and seniors. While this shutdown may end, the dysfunction in Washington under the Trump Administration and Republican Congress remains. I call on the President and Congress once again to do what’s right: extend the health insurance tax credits and avoid skyrocketing premiums for tens of thousands of Maine people and millions more across the country.”
Mills went on to call on Republicans to extend health insurance tax credits and avoid causing skyrocketing premiums for millions across the country.
Even though Democratic Representative Jared Golden was one of only six Democrats in the House to vote for the resolution to reopen the government.
He had a similar response to Governor Mills and other Democrats who didn’t vote for it, saying that the expiring tax credits for the Affordable Care Act, need to be tackled next.
Maine Representative Jared Golden (WGME)
He said in part:
“With the shutdown now over, I urge members of both parties who care about affordable health care to come back to the table so we can get the job done.”
Republican Senator Susan Collins also reacted to the end of the shutdown, saying part:
“As the chair of the Appropriations Committee, I worked hard on this legislation that will finally put an end to this unnecessary and harmful government shutdown, as well as provide full-year funding to important programs like SNAP.”
Sen. Susan Collins (CSPAN)
Democratic Congresswoman Chellie Pingree released the following statement on her vote against the funding bill:
“From the beginning, the vast majority of House Democrats have been united in opposing any funding bill that doesn’t address the escalating health care crisis. Without immediate action, millions of Americans are going to be priced out of their health insurance in January. President Trump and Republican leadership have proven that they’re willing to take drastic measures—including a historically long government shutdown and the first-ever illegal attempt to deny SNAP benefits to food insecure Americans—to avoid addressing this crisis.This “deal” is going to be financially ruinous for thousands of Mainers—despite somehow managing to include provisions that will allow millions of dollars in cash payouts to Republican Senators. While it’s critical to end the shutdown and fund the government, this was not the way to do it. I am an emphatic no on this terrible bill.It became increasingly clear this week that Speaker Johnson will not put a clean ACA bill on the floor, regardless of the Senate’s handshake deal. But this fight is far from over. House Democrats have already filed a discharge petition to extend the ACA tax credits for a full three years. It is my sincere hope that, just as we are doing with the petition to release the Epstein files, we can get enough Republicans on board to pass these extensions—and bring much-needed relief to millions of Americans.”