We’ll turn back now to the federal government shutdown. There’s currently little sign that Republicans and Democrats are close to striking a deal on a funding bill when the Senate returns this week.
We spoke with two GOP lawmakers about the issue this morning:
Republican Sen. Katie Britt rejected Democrats’ efforts to extend enhanced health care subsidies as part of a deal to reopen the government, calling the Affordable Care Act fundamentally broken.
“Obamacare was never affordable,” Britt told anchor Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “From the very beginning, this was a flawed program.”
Democrats are seeking to include an extension of the pandemic-era subsidies as part of the shutdown negotiations. Britt argued that continuing the subsidies without reform would be irresponsible, and that the time for that debate is after reopening government.
“I’m absolutely open to having a conversation, but we’re not going to extend a program that is wrought with fraud, waste, and abuse,” she said. “There would have to be adjustments to make it make sense for the American people.”
GOP Rep. Nick LaLota also argued that Republicans shouldn’t negotiate with Democrats now on the subsidies, telling CNN’s Manu Raju that “it would merely reward more hostage-taking in the future.”
LaLota acknowledged that the ACA subsidies are “valued by constituents like mine,” and said there had already been bipartisan efforts underway to address the issue before the government shut down.
The New York lawmaker said the ball is now in Democrats’ court to reopen the government.
