If they squint, lawmakers can see the outlines of a bipartisan deal that could avoid a government shutdown later this year. But bringing an agreement into focus — and enacting it into law — will be no small task.
The general parameters floated by multiple factions in the House and Senate is to couple, by the end of the year, an extension of federal health insurance subsidies that are set to expire on Jan. 1 with government funding through September 2026.
But no one is willing to lock in that agreement yet, and getting there could take several more months of negotiations. There also are plenty of stumbling blocks that could keep it out of reach: GOP hard-liners oppose extending the subsidies. Democrats, meanwhile, aren’t yet aligned on what it would take to give President Donald Trump even a few more weeks of funding.
It’s all but guaranteed that Congress won’t be able to reach a broader deal this month, meaning even in the best-case scenario lawmakers will soon need to vote on a stopgap that would buy time to strike a larger deal. Looming over it all is Trump, who already wants to fund the government into next year — past the health insurance cliff. GOP leaders believe they will need him to unequivocally endorse any agreement to get it through Congress.
More Republicans would benefit if they were helped with the health care that they gutted. They expect the Democrats to cave in because they care about people. If Democrats cared, they would do what is best for the long term. That would help all Americans, without emboldening the Republicans.
- More Republicans than Democrats get health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, according to a poll by KFF.
- The GOP-controlled House of Representatives passed a massive tax and spending bill in May that makes substantial cuts to health programs like the ACA, also known as Obamacare.
- Millions of people are expected to lose health insurance coverage if the bill becomes law.
Republicans on Capitol Hill are weighing legislation that’s estimated to cut billions of dollars of funding for the Affordable Care Act and cause millions of people to lose their health insurance. Many of their constituents may not be happy about it, polling suggests.
Nearly half, 45%, of adults enrolled in a health plan offered through the ACA insurance marketplace identify as Republicans, according to a new survey by KFF, a nonpartisan group that conducts health policy research.
(More than three-quarters of those Republican ACA users identify as “MAGA” Republicans. Those MAGA Republicans represent 31% of ACA purchasers overall.)
Meanwhile, 35% of Democrats get their health insurance through the ACA, KFF found.
I expect the Democrats to announce that they have saved whatever, which actually benefits Republicans, and thus they will vote to fund the government.
Until all those Republican voting people suffer, they will continue to believe whatever FOX and Trump tell them. Force the Republicans to make those deals that will save Obamacare for many of their voters. Force the Republicans to give up something so they can continue feeding their welfare kings, the farmers, who always have their hand out for handouts.
Musk did have some advice that should be followed: less empathy.