Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin says it’s up to Republicans to negotiate a way out of a government shutdown after senators failed to reach an agreement on a short-term funding bill earlier this week.
Baldwin is among the majority of Democrats who voted against a Republican funding plan. At the center of current gridlock is the imminent expiration of Affordable Care Act, or ACA, enhanced premium tax credits. If these tax credits do expire, monthly health insurance premium payments will “more than double,” according to a report by KFF.
“We have an imminent issue with the cost of health care predicted to literally double if Congress doesn’t act expeditiously,” Baldwin told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.”
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During the shutdown, federal employees are at risk of furlough.
Recent estimates indicate about 18,000 civilian federal employees in Wisconsin could be affected by government furloughs, asked to work without pay or get fired outright.
In her interview with “Wisconsin Today,” Baldwin said the onus is on President Donald Trump and the Republicans to avoid the shutdown’s negative effects on federal workers.
“I worked hard to avoid a shutdown, and I am continuing to work to find a bipartisan path forward,” Baldwin said. “There’s an easy path forward: President Trump and Republicans should come to the table.”
Baldwin also discussed her vote against the Republican stopgap proposal and the Democrats’ broader strategy to push back against the Trump administration.
The following was edited for clarity and brevity.
Kate Archer Kent: Why won’t Democrats vote in favor of a stopgap funding bill to reopen the government and negotiate separately with Republicans about extending Affordable Care Act tax credits before they expire at the end of the year?
Sen. Tammy Baldwin: Right now, (Majority Leader Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota,) has insisted on pressing forward with a resolution that had no Democratic input. We’ve seen a lot of handshakes and promises that haven’t come to fruition. We have got to reopen the government and extend the premium tax credits so that people can continue to afford their health care. Any day now, Wisconsinites are going to receive letters informing them that their health insurance prices have nearly doubled, and that can only be averted if Congress acts.
KAK: These stopgap bills need 60 votes to pass. Hypothetically, if Republicans agreed to extend these health care tax credits past the end of the year, would you then support this funding bill?
TB: I would like to accomplish both of those. So yes.
The whole idea here is to keep the government open or reopen the government. That’s something that I have voted to do repeatedly with the Democratic resolution that includes addressing the health care crisis that we have right now, and that’s exactly what I want to accomplish.
KAK: Democrats do face criticism within their own party for not pushing back harder against the policies of the Trump administration. Is this moment, the government shutdown, the answer to this criticism?
TB: One of the huge problems with this administration has been their lawlessness. We have seen any number of actions where the president has completely disregarded the law, disregarded the directives in our appropriations measures that have been signed into law. And so I think the accountability question is a huge question on everyone’s mind.
But right now, again, costs are probably the No. 1 issue on everyone’s mind. And this president actually ran for office promising to bring down costs across the board, whether that be groceries, health care, housing, child care, and we have seen everything go up because of his policies. And so this is the fight. And right now, the centerpiece is health care because we know that we’re expecting dramatic increases in prices. The Kaiser Family Foundation just (on Tuesday) predicted that on average, people’s health care costs would go up 114 percent. That’s extraordinary. But if Congress acts, we can avert some of that harm.
KAK: Are there any good-faith negotiations happening in the present now on the hill?
TB: I’m talking daily with my Republican colleagues. I know a number of them who want to get this done, and it makes it even more frustrating that the president and the speaker of the House don’t want to negotiate and want to stubbornly push through something that is completely written by Republicans without any Democratic input. Many of my Republican colleagues in the U.S. Senate recognize that the Senate only works in a bipartisan fashion, and so I’ve talked to a number of them who want to extend these tax credits. I feel like almost without question, the votes are there in the U.S. Senate to extend these tax cuts. But the president and the speaker of the House have to get serious about speaking with us.
You know, it’s notable that the House is not even in session this week. Democrats showed up to do their job, but the Republican speaker said they’re not coming back into session until next week. They’re clearly not serious about trying to reopen the government. We’re the ones working tirelessly, reaching out to our Republican colleagues to try to get that done.
KAK: Shutdowns damage people’s lives, especially for the thousands of Wisconsinites who are civilian federal employees. What will you do to help repair their lives and make Wisconsinites whole?
TB: I’m very mindful of what happens during a shutdown, and I’m also very mindful about what happens when people lose their ability to have insurance coverage. I’ve been holding roundtables throughout the state of Wisconsin, and people are terrified about what the neglect of this issue will mean for their lives, and therefore we’ve got to do both. We’ve got to reopen the government and assure that the tax credits for the Affordable Care Act are restored so that we don’t see this doubling in cost for health care. And again, this is going to hurt everyone, not just those who are on the Affordable Care Act marketplace. This is critical, and we have to also assure that as soon as we’re able to reopen the government, that those workers are paid, as has happened in every other shutdown in the past.
