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A person runs on the East Front of the U.S. Capitol, Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, in Washington.<\/p>\n
Rahmat Gul \/ AP<\/p>\n
The federal government shutdown is nearing its fourth week.<\/p>\n
Members of Oregon\u2019s congressional delegation describe a stalemate as hundreds of thousands of federal workers remain furloughed without pay, including many in Oregon, which is home to nearly 30,0000 federal workers.<\/p>\n
Federal workers for agencies like the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Guard will go without pay until the impasse is resolved. That includes people who are still working because their service is deemed essential. <\/p>\n
Few signs indicate Congress is approaching a deal as federal lawmakers jockey over changes to health insurance policy that could affect nearly 140,000 Oregonians. Meanwhile, everyone is pointing fingers. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is on them,\u201d Rep. Suzanne Bonamici told OPB on Thursday. \u201cThe Democrats aren\u2019t at fault. Republicans hold the power. So they need to come back to the table.\u201d<\/p>\n
Related: Why Democrats are casting the government shutdown as a health care showdown<\/a><\/p>\n Republicans like U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz \u2014 who represents much of rural Eastern and Southern Oregon \u2014 have said Democrats are making unreasonable demands at the expense of working people. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve done our part,\u201d Bentz recently told the news outlet<\/a> KATU. \u201cWe\u2019ve voted to keep the government open over and over and over again on the Senate side, and one time on the House side. It\u2019s time for the Democrats to step up.\u201d (A spokesperson told OPB Bentz was not immediately available for an interview.) <\/p>\n FILE- U.S. Representative Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, answers questions during a Rotary Club meeting in The Dalles, Ore., Aug. 20, 2025.<\/p>\n Kristyna Wentz-Graff \/ OPB<\/p>\n Congress failed to pass a short-term plan to fund the federal government by the time the budget year began Oct. 1. The spending package needs 60 votes, so Republicans, who hold 53 seats in Congress, need some Democrats on board to pass it. <\/p>\n \u2018The ball is in their court\u2019<\/p>\n The shutdown ensued as top Democrats sought concessions from the Republicans. Among other things, Democrats want to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire at year\u2019s end and roll back cuts Republicans made to Medicaid through the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill. <\/p>\n The expiring health subsidies, which were passed by Congress in 2021, have been reducing the costs paid by many people purchasing individual and small group health insurance plans through the marketplace<\/a>. <\/p>\n Should those more generous subsidies expire, monthly health insurance premiums will more than double, on average, according to KFF<\/a>, a nonprofit which researches and reports on U.S. health policy. Some middle income families will no longer qualify for any subsidy. <\/p>\n Related: US Sen. Jeff Merkley on government shutdown, health care and authoritarianism<\/a><\/p>\n Most Oregonians get their health insurance from their employer or Medicaid, known locally as the Oregon Health Plan. They will not be directly impacted by the expiration of the subsidies. <\/p>\n But nearly 140,000 people, or 3% of the state\u2019s population, are insured through the marketplace and could see their premiums more than double. Democrats say those increases could make health care unaffordable, forcing many people to drop their insurance altogether, adding to the number of unpaid bills at hospitals and clinics.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ball is in their court,\u201d Sen. Ron Wyden said of the Republican party, \u201cbut I stand ready with my fellow Democrats for meaningful talks anywhere and anytime with Republicans that protect health care for millions of Americans facing soaring premiums.\u201d<\/p>\n FILE – Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., speaks during a event with healthcare advocates on the 60th anniversary of Medicaid at the Capitol, Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Washington.<\/p>\n Mariam Zuhaib \/ AP<\/p>\n \u2018We don\u2019t need to throw more money at it\u2019<\/p>\n But Republicans see the issue differently \u2014 and have criticized Democrats for holding funding for the federal government hostage in order to negotiate for health care subsidies that many in the GOP consider a flawed stop-gap solution.<\/p>\n \u201cHealth care\u2019s a $4 trillion issue, and we need to do our very, very best to make sure we\u2019re spending that money wisely,\u201d Bentz, Oregon\u2019s lone Republican member of Congress, told KATU<\/a> this week. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think we are. And we need to do a better job supplying better health care, but we don\u2019t need to throw more money at it. We need to figure out how to restructure it so that insurance companies are not taking more of it than they should and so that people are getting the care that they need.\u201d<\/p>\n Prolonged shutdowns can rock the economy and disrupt funding for social safety net programs that many people rely on. That includes the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, a family nutrition program, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program<\/a>, or food stamps. Each month, one in six Oregonians receives SNAP benefits to help put food on their table.<\/p>\n Related: The federal government has shut down. Here\u2019s what that means for Oregon and Southwest Washington<\/a><\/p>\n Lately, federal agencies have used official websites to blame Democrats for the shutdown, including on screens at airport security checkpoints like the one in Eugene.<\/a> <\/p>\n \u201cThe way to talk about it is to reopen the government so that the people of the United States are not being held hostage while the Democrats try to force an outcome that they lost when they lost the vote on the [Big Beautiful Bill],\u201d Bentz told KATU. <\/p>\n A spending package that would continue to fund the federal government has passed through the U.S. House of Representatives but remains stalled in the Senate, where it has failed 10 times. Each Democratic member of Oregon\u2019s congressional delegation has voted against it. <\/p>\n \u2018Our community deserves nothing less\u2019<\/p>\n As the shutdown continues, President Donald Trump has moved to freeze or cancel billions of dollars worth of grants for projects in districts nationwide, many of which are led by Democrats, The New York Times reported. <\/a>That includes hundreds of millions in grant funds for projects<\/a> in Oregon. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m hearing from Oregonians that they want me to fight for a funding bill that doesn\u2019t just protect health care, but reins in Trump\u2019s lawlessness,\u201d said U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter, a Democrat. \u201cI\u2019ve been in Washington, D.C., all week ready to sit down and get to work on a deal to reopen the government that does just that. Our community deserves nothing less.\u201d <\/p>\n FiLE – U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter speaks during a town hall held at the Federal Building in Portland, Ore., March 17, 2025. <\/p>\n Kristyna Wentz-Graff \/ OPB<\/p>\n The president has also floated the idea of firing workers as leverage over Democrats, but a federal judge has temporarily blocked his efforts. <\/p>\n Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat, says the president is trying \u201cto traumatize federal workers to dismantle the federal government, make federal workers feel like villains, in fact feel so much like villains they don\u2019t even want to come to work.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat was the vision that was laid out by the architect of this strategy, and we\u2019re seeing it implemented,\u201d Merkley said. \u201cAnd it will continue to hurt Americans.\u201d <\/p>\n Merkley said he is concerned that the shutdown will lead to transportation delays and child nutrition programs running out of funding. <\/p>\n In addition to changing their stance on health insurance policy, Merkley said Republicans can help end the shutdown by agreeing to a clause \u201cthat says the president will actually spend the money in the fashion that the law says he will spend it.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cNo more intentional slowdowns, freezes, impoundments, or just running out the clock on the fiscal year so the authorization to spend the money kind of evaporates overnight,\u201d Merkley said. <\/p>\n However, he accused Republican leaders of failing to negotiate due to mounting pressure from the president, adding: \u201cTrump is telling them that they cannot talk.\u201d<\/p>\n The U.S. Senate will reconvene on Monday. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A person runs on the East Front of the U.S. Capitol, Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, in Washington. 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