John,

Earlier today, the House passed a funding bill that neither addresses skyrocketing health costs by extending the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits nor asserts Congress’s power to prevent the president from freezing Congressionally approved funds.

This is completely unacceptable. Not only does it make health insurance unaffordable for millions of people, but House Republicans opened the door wider for Donald Trump to attack billions of dollars of funding for local communities.

The Senate immediately took up this partisan bill, but thankfully failed to reach the 60 vote threshold for passage. Nor were there 60 votes to pass the Democratic alternative which protects health care and the Congressional power of the purse. We’re demanding a bipartisan funding bill that puts our communities first and doesn’t allow the illegal freezing of congressionally appropriated funds!

We have 11 days to keep the pressure on Congress to avoid a government shutdown while protecting funding for our communities and addressing key health costs. Donate $5 to power our campaign demanding Congress reject partisan bills that do not address health care affordability and don’t create guardrails that ensure communities receive the funding they need.

We’re reminding Senators and Representatives from both parties that without action, millions of people will see their health insurance premiums skyrocket, with the Congressional Budget Office projecting that the increase in the number of uninsured people could be as high as 2.2 million next year.¹

Donald Trump has already sabotaged the normal appropriations process by side-stepping Congress and issuing so-called “pocket rescissions,” which is a way to illegally claw back Congressionally approved funds. Article 1 of the Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse, and the Trump administration’s refusal to spend appropriated funds until the clock runs out on the current fiscal year is stopping funding Congress has approved on a bipartisan basis from reaching communities. The funding freezes are having a real—and in some cases devastating—impact on early childhood services and funding for public schools, afterschool programs, mental health services, and more.

Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued a statement:²

“Congress alone bears the constitutional responsibility for funding our government, and any effort to claw back resources outside of the appropriations process undermines that responsibility.”

House and Senate Republicans are driving us straight towards a shutdown. Now is the time for leaders in Congress to sit down and negotiate on a bipartisan basis to stop the administration’s cancellations of congressionally approved spending and help millions of people maintain their health insurance. 

Donate $5 to keep the pressure on the House and Senate to reject the House’s partisan funding bill, and instead come together on a bipartisan basis to avert a shutdown while standing up to the administration and dealing with skyrocketing health costs.

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Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs

¹ Democrats stake out opposition to spending bill, raising threat of a shutdown
² Republicans dismayed by Trump’s decision to use pocket rescission