Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin says it\u2019s up to Republicans to negotiate a way out of a government shutdown after senators failed to reach an agreement on a short-term funding bill earlier this week.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Baldwin is among the majority of Democrats who voted against<\/a> a Republican funding plan. At the center of current gridlock is the imminent expiration of Affordable Care Act, or ACA, enhanced premium tax credits. If these tax credits do expire, monthly health insurance premium payments will \u201cmore than double,\u201d according to a report by KFF<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe have an imminent issue with the cost of health care predicted to literally double if Congress doesn\u2019t act expeditiously,\u201d Baldwin told WPR\u2019s \u201cWisconsin Today<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n News with a little more humanity<\/p>\n WPR\u2019s \u201cWisconsin Today\u201d newsletter keeps you connected to the state you love without feeling overwhelmed. No paywall. No agenda. No corporate filter.<\/p>\n During the shutdown, federal employees are at risk of furlough.\u00a0<\/p>\n Recent estimates<\/a> indicate about 18,000 civilian federal employees in Wisconsin could be affected by government furloughs<\/a>, asked to work without pay or get fired outright.\u00a0<\/p>\n In her interview with \u201cWisconsin Today,\u201d Baldwin said the onus is on President Donald Trump and the Republicans to avoid the shutdown\u2019s negative effects on federal workers. <\/p>\n \u201cI worked hard to avoid a shutdown, and I am continuing to work to find a bipartisan path forward,\u201d Baldwin said. \u201cThere\u2019s an easy path forward: President Trump and Republicans should come to the table.\u201d<\/p>\n Baldwin also discussed her vote against the Republican stopgap proposal and the Democrats\u2019 broader strategy to push back against the Trump administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n The following was edited for clarity and brevity.<\/p>\n Kate Archer Kent: Why won\u2019t Democrats vote in favor of a stopgap funding bill to reopen the government and negotiate separately with Republicans about extending Affordable Care Act tax credits before they expire at the end of the year?<\/p>\n Sen. Tammy Baldwin: Right now, (Majority Leader Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota,) has insisted on pressing forward with a resolution that had no Democratic input. We\u2019ve seen a lot of handshakes and promises that haven\u2019t come to fruition. We have got to reopen the government and extend the premium tax credits so that people can continue to afford their health care. Any day now, Wisconsinites are going to receive letters informing them that their health insurance prices have nearly doubled, and that can only be averted if Congress acts.<\/p>\n KAK: These stopgap bills need 60 votes to pass. Hypothetically, if Republicans agreed to extend these health care tax credits past the end of the year, would you then support this funding bill?<\/p>\n TB: I would like to accomplish both of those. So yes.\u00a0<\/p>\n The whole idea here is to keep the government open or reopen the government. That\u2019s something that I have voted to do repeatedly with the Democratic resolution that includes addressing the health care crisis that we have right now, and that\u2019s exactly what I want to accomplish.<\/p>\n KAK: Democrats do face criticism within their own party for not pushing back harder against the policies of the Trump administration. Is this moment, the government shutdown, the answer to this criticism?<\/p>\n TB: One of the huge problems with this administration has been their lawlessness. We have seen any number of actions where the president has completely disregarded the law, disregarded the directives in our appropriations measures that have been signed into law. And so I think the accountability question is a huge question on everyone\u2019s mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n But right now, again, costs are probably the No. 1 issue on everyone\u2019s mind. And this president actually ran for office promising to bring down costs across the board, whether that be groceries, health care, housing, child care, and we have seen everything go up because of his policies. And so this is the fight. And right now, the centerpiece is health care because we know that we\u2019re expecting dramatic increases in prices. The Kaiser Family Foundation just (on Tuesday) predicted that on average, people\u2019s health care costs would go up 114 percent<\/a>. That\u2019s extraordinary. But if Congress acts, we can avert some of that harm.<\/p>\n KAK: Are there any good-faith negotiations happening in the present now on the hill?<\/p>\n TB: I\u2019m talking daily with my Republican colleagues. I know a number of them who want to get this done, and it makes it even more frustrating that the president and the speaker of the House don\u2019t want to negotiate and want to stubbornly push through something that is completely written by Republicans without any Democratic input. Many of my Republican colleagues in the U.S. Senate recognize that the Senate only works in a bipartisan fashion, and so I\u2019ve talked to a number of them who want to extend these tax credits. I feel like almost without question, the votes are there in the U.S. Senate to extend these tax cuts. But the president and the speaker of the House have to get serious about speaking with us.<\/p>\n