We’re now on Day 22 of the Schumer Shutdown.
My House Republican colleagues and I passed a non-partisan continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government open over one month ago. Yet this government funding bill remains stalled in the Senate, as Chuck Schumer is more interested in pandering to the radical Left than serving the American people. As a reminder, we only need five more Senate Democrats to break the 60-vote threshold to overcome the filibuster and bring the House’s CR to the Senate floor for a vote.
Since Democrats have repeatedly claimed that their funding fight is all about health care, I’d like to share the truth about their radical demands.
Yes, Democrats are demanding that your hard-earned tax dollars fund health care for illegal aliens. Buried on page 57, Section 2141 of Senate Democrats’ proposed CR is language that repeals the One Big Beautiful Bill’s (OBBB) new safeguard to prevent illegals from receiving Medicaid. In other words, the Democrats’ proposal would allow liberal states like California to continue exploiting a loophole to fund Medicaid for illegal aliens, as they did prior to the commonsense reforms in Republicans’ OBBB.
Democrats’ funding proposal would also repeal the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Fund in the OBBB. My Republican colleagues and I added this beneficial investment to our One Big Beautiful Bill to improve health care in rural America, including in the Ninth District. Yet Democrats are demanding that this critical funding be completely cut, which would deliver a catastrophic blow to hospitals and health care workers in rural communities.
Last but certainly not least, Democrats are demanding the extension of COVID-era subsidies under Obamacare, also known as the so-called Affordable Care Act. I recently joined several of my House Freedom Caucus colleagues in penning an op-ed explaining why Congress should allow these temporary subsidies to expire, as they are costly, riddled with fraud, and go directly toward eliminating competitive free market options and enriching health insurance companies.
The ugly truth that Democrats refuse to admit is that the so-called Affordable Care Act has never been affordable. It’s a failed system they created with zero Republican votes. Yet Democrats are now claiming Obamacare is doomed unless the temporary, enhanced subsidies they enacted during COVID — again, without a single Republican vote — are extended. Folks, these Biden-era COVID subsidies are simply the Left’s desperate attempt to hide the soaring costs of Obamacare.
It’s no secret that our health care system is broken. But instead of doubling down on the failures of Obamacare, Congress must focus on alternative health care reforms that empower patients rather than the government. Republicans are willing to work toward reaching the best path forward, yet we will not negotiate under hostage conditions.
If Democrats truly cared about your health care, they wouldn’t be fighting to give Medicaid to illegals while simultaneously stripping rural communities of critical health care investments and worsening the disaster they created through Obamacare. It’s past time Senate Democrats end their partisan games and abandon their radical demands so we can resume our work in Washington for the American people.
 
 
