Washington – Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, said Sunday that lawmakers could end the shutdown impasse and reopen the government as early as this week, urging Republicans to come to the negotiating table on health care subsidies.
“We should be able to wrap it up this week if they sit down and negotiate 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 entrenched in their positions on the 19th government shutdown, which has become the third longest financing term in modern history. Last week, efforts to advance a House-passed government funding measure fell short of 60 votes in the Senate for the 10th time, as Republicans sought to peel away Democratic support. But they have failed to win 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 insisted there was nothing to negotiate as Democrats sought to sit down with GOP leaders and the president. Still, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said last week that he told Democrats he wanted to guarantee a vote on the tax credits even though he couldn’t guarantee the outcome. In a post published by OX on Friday, the South Dakota Republican added that he is open to meeting with Democrats on health care, but only if the shutdown ends.
Kelly echoed the Democrats’ position Sunday, saying, “We want negotiations.”
“We need to fix this skyrocketing premium — it’s going to go up for people on November 1st,” the Arizona Democrat said, referring to expected spike in health insurance premiums if Congress does not extend a set of increased tax credits. “We need to solve this problem of health care premiums and open up the government.”
While there have been talks among lawmakers about how to reopen the government, congressional leaders have not met since the shutdown began, most recently on Sept. 29. gathered for a meeting with President Trump at the White House.
“The president spent one hour negotiating this with congressional leadership. That’s it, one hour,” Kelly said. “They need to get in the room and stay in the room until we can fix this. The president said he wants to fix this top-notch thing, and he wants the government to be open. That’s what we want.”
Sen. Britt: Democrats must ‘do the right thing’
The Briton, who also appeared on Face the Nation on Sunday, said: “Democrats need to sit down at the table and do the right thing.”
“There are a lot of people who have been affected by Democrats playing politics, and they really need to do what’s right, and that’s work for the American people,” Britt said. – So opening up the government is number one.
On expanding health insurance tax credits, Britt reiterated that Republicans are willing to discuss the issue, but only after the government is reopened.
“We believe you can walk and chew gum at the same time. Democrats somehow don’t think that’s possible,” Britt said. “They need to come to the table, reopen the government, and then we’re happy to have a conversation about the broken system they’ve created and help them get out of their own mess.”
Britt said it’s “absolutely ridiculous to sit here and say we’re afraid people can’t afford their health care, but at the same time we’re not going to let them pay their wages.”
“Those two things don’t go hand in hand, and Democrats need to really be honest and make government open again,” she added.
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