Dear friend,
Two weeks ago, House Republicans did our job by passing a clean, bipartisan Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government. This gave both chambers plenty of time to process it. However, all of the Democrat Senators but three voted against the CR. I want to thank Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, and Sen. Angus King of Maine, an Independent who caucuses with Democrats, for choosing our country over party. The passed CR is no different than the 13 passed during the Biden Administration, and I joined them for all but one.
The proposed CR would have saved the government from shutting down.
This clean CR will:
- Deliver paychecks for our troops, Border Patrol agents, TSA agents, and Air Traffic Controllers.
- Prevent delays processing new applications for Social Security and Medicare.
- Give veterans the healthcare they deserve without delays.
- Keep National Parks open.
- Continue vital food inspections.
One issue that I think we can negotiate on is the extension of the COVID-era Obamacare Tax Subsidies, which are set to expire on December 31, 2025. These were enacted to help those who lost their incomes during the pandemic. Some of my Republican colleagues and I believe we can negotiate on this during the regular appropriations process. To do that, we need a clean CR to pass the Senate.
Although the pandemic is over, we recognize that people are facing increased premiums, and lower- and middle-class earners will be particularly affected by them. However, under the current COVID-era subsidies, income limits went away, and instead, a percentage of income was used. Personally, I don’t think someone making $500,000, or even $300,000 needs a subsidy for their Obamacare insurance. My colleagues and I would like to examine income caps to consider extending them.
