Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
DI don’t expect the government shutdown to end any time soon – especially since Washington doesn’t expect it to end any time soon.
House Speaker Mike Johnson warned this week that “We are headed for one of the longest shutdowns in American history.”
Is Johnson doing anything to stop the impasse? Oh, heaven, no. The speaker has kept the House out of session and also refused to swear in Adelita Grijalva, a Democrat who won a special election in Arizona.
Another sign that the Trump administration has given up? It has started sending money around to ensure the troops Paid during shutdownBuying Republicans congressional time and giving them one less pain point. Instead of bringing leaders in the House and Senate together to shake hands, as he did with Israel and its Arab neighbors, Trump has virtually checked out.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune continues to block Potemkin votes on the same ongoing resolution, which Democrats have already called a non-starter.
Once the Senate finishes its votes on Thursday, the Senate will go home, meaning there will be no votes on Friday. This is just the latest indication that talks are not going on and there is no discussion anywhere about talks. And as far as the House is concerned? It’s still out of session.
Democrats insist that any continued solution include a plan to save enhanced COVID-era tax credits for the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. That’s a non-starter for Republicans, who say any discussion about health care should begin only after the government reopens.
But Republicans want to see some serious changes to the credits, even if they agree to extend them.
“Taking fraud out of the program and addressing Hyde Amendment issues,” said Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), who led negotiations with Democrats on this topic. The Hyde Amendment prevents taxpayer dollars from going toward abortion.
This would likely be a nonstarter for Democrats, but Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has proposed legislation banning the exchanges from covering gender transition care and abortion for people under 18. That Hawley often sells himself as a populist who supports health care expansion — even though he voted for the One Big, Beautiful bill and its cuts to Medicaid — shows just how at odds the two parties are.
Republicans also face a big problem: At their core, they still oppose the 2010 health care law that Barack Obama signed and have yet to repeal it and create a suitable replacement. Trump’s biggest policy failure during his first presidency came when Republicans failed to repeal the law.
Senator John Hoeven (R-N.D.) pointed out, “Obamacare is driving up the cost of health care.” Independent“That’s what’s driving up health care costs.”
Hoeven said he would like to see the tax credit more targeted to low-income people.
But the Democrats see no reason to give even an inch. A perfect sign is how Senators Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan are not giving up yet. Both won open seats last year in states Trump won, but neither seems ready to back down.
“Republicans are not recognizing the fact that they’re going to raise premiums on 24 million Americans, and I think that’s why they’ve stalled and aren’t really offering any solutions,” Gallego explained. Independent,
Slotkin, for his part, has been more secretive about his discussions with Republicans.
“I don’t talk about those internal conversations — you’re talking to a former CIA officer,” she said. IndependentSlotkin said that along with the credits, she would like to see the Medicaid cuts from the One Big Beautiful bill reversed and the restoration of destroyed health research.
“I’m willing to admit that even though I’m a Democrat, I’m in the minority,” he said. “The Republicans have the White House, the House, and the Senate, so I won’t get everything I want. I’m a big girl.”
Slotkin highlighted the fact that in his home state, Democrats and Republicans were nearly neck and neck.
“They yelled at each other on Twitter and then finally they got in a room and they figured it out in 96 hours,” he said. “So I think that’s where it can be done, and that’s why it’s always good to have these conversations.”
But there seems to be no flurry of the kind of major roundtables that typically end government shutdowns or other staring contests.
Absent employees are pushing carts of pizza boxes into a room for members to strike up conversations. Johnson still has to make the five-minute trek to the Capitol to give Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer reason to stand down.
Expect this to be a long shutdown barring an act of God. And it can also be used as a reason to keep the government shut.