Washington — Sen. Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat, said Sunday that lawmakers could resolve the shutdown stalemate and reopen the government as soon as this week, urging Republicans to come to the negotiating table on health care subsidies.
“We should be able to wrap this up this week, if they will sit down and have a negotiation with us,” Kelly said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama pressed Democrats to “do the right thing” and reopen the government first.
Democrats and Republicans remain dug in on their positions on Day 19 of the government shutdown, which has become the third-longest funding lapse in modern history. Last week, an effort to advance a House-passed measure to fund the government fell short of the 60 votes needed in the Senate for a tenth time, as Republicans sought to peel off support from Democrats. But they’ve been unable to win over additional support since the shutdown began, as most Democrats have demanded an extension of expiring health insurance tax credits as a condition for reopening the government.
Republicans in Congress have insisted that there’s nothing to negotiate as Democrats have sought to sit down with GOP leaders and the president. Still, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said last week that he’s told Democrats he’s willing to guarantee a vote on the tax credits, though he can’t guarantee an outcome. And in a post on X Friday, the South Dakota Republican added that he’s willing to sit down with Democrats on the health care issue, but only under the condition that the shutdown ends.
Kelly reiterated Democrats’ position Sunday, saying, “we want negotiations.”
“What we need is to fix this skyrocketing premium — they’re going to go up on Nov. 1 for people,” the Arizona Democrat said, referring to an expected jump in health insurance premiums if Congress doesn’t extend a set of enhanced tax credits. “What we need to do is fix this health care premium issue and open the government.”
Though there have been conversations between lawmakers about how to reopen the government, congressional leaders have not met since the shutdown began, last gathering on Sept. 29 for a meeting with President Trump at the White House.
“The president has spent one hour negotiating this issue with leadership in Congress. That’s it, one hour,” Kelly said. “They need to get in the room and stay in a room until we can hash this out. The president has said he wants to fix this premium thing, and he wants the government open. That’s what we want.”
Sen. Britt: Democrats need to “do the right thing”
Britt, who also appeared on “Face the Nation” on Sunday, said, “Democrats need to come to the table and do the right thing.”
“There are a lot of people that are being affected by the Democrats playing politics, and they need to actually do what’s right, and that is work for the American people,” Britt said. “And so getting the government open is number one.”
On extending the health insurance tax credits, Britt reiterated that Republicans are willing to discuss the issue, but only once the government is reopened.
“We believe that you can walk and chew gum at the same time. Democrats, for some reason, don’t think that that’s possible,” Britt said. “They need to come to the table, open the government back up, and then we’re happy to have a conversation about the broken system that they created and help them get out of their own mess.”
Britt said it’s “absolutely totally ridiculous to sit here and say we’re afraid people cannot afford their health care, but at the same time we’re going to deny them their paycheck.”
“Those two things do not match up, and Democrats need to actually be honest about it and get the government back open,” she added.
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