Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Friday laid out Democrats’ latest demand to end the 38-day government shutdown: a one-year extension of Obamacare subsidies.
Speaking on the Senate floor, Schumer proposed simultaneous votes to reopen the government and extend the expiring tax credits, while creating a bipartisan panel to review GOP proposals for Affordable Care Act (ACA) reforms.
“Democrats are ready to quickly pass a government funding bill that includes health care affordability,” Schumer said. “Leader [John] Thune just needs to add a clean, one-year extension of the ACA tax credits to the CR so we can immediately address rising healthcare costs.”
He added, “That’s not a negotiation. It’s an extension of current law, something we do all the time around here.”
Thune, R-S.D., in response called Schumer's proposal a "nonstarter" but said it was "progress."
Thune reiterated it still doesn’t “get anywhere close to what we need to do here.”
Schumer’s offer comes amid growing pressure from both parties to end the shutdown, which has halted food aid, pay for federal workers, and disrupted air travel nationwide. But Republicans are balking, with many insisting the ACA subsidies need reform before being renewed.
Thune has urged Democrats to “end these weeks of misery,” saying Republicans are open to a bipartisan funding plan — but only after the government is reopened. “With reforms,” Thune said, “we can get something done.”
Republican leaders are preparing a new stopgap funding package that would reopen much of the government — including veterans’ programs, food assistance, and congressional operations — while extending overall spending through early 2026.
Thune said the Senate could stay in session over the weekend, with a test vote expected as early as Friday.
Former President Donald Trump has also pressed Republicans to end the standoff, even calling for an end to the Senate filibuster so a GOP-backed bill could pass without Democrat support.
“I’m totally in favor of terminating the filibuster,” Trump said Friday. “We’d be back to work within 10 minutes after that vote.”
Democrats, however, remain divided.
Some moderates — led by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. — are discussing a compromise that would guarantee only a future vote on ACA subsidies, not an immediate extension. Progressives are rejecting that as insufficient.
“Without something on healthcare, the vote is very unlikely to succeed,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has refused to make any promises about a future vote. “I’m not promising anybody anything,” he told reporters Thursday.
Negotiators are also weighing language that could restore back pay for furloughed workers and reverse some White House firings made during the shutdown. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, confirmed those talks are ongoing.
Schumer and House Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., have called for direct talks with Trump — a meeting that appears unlikely.
Jeffries, who rejected a one-year extension offered by Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., last month, has maintained that Democrats will hold out until Republicans agree to make the ACA tax credits permanent.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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