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  • Vance says troops will be paid as pressure builds on Congress to end the shutdown

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    Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday he believes U.S. military members will be paid at the end of the week, though he did not specify how the Trump administration will reconfigure funding as pain from the second-longest shutdown spreads nationwide.The funding fight in Washington gained new urgency this week as millions of Americans face the prospect of losing food assistance, more federal workers miss their first full paycheck and recurring delays at airports snarl travel plans.“We do think that we can continue paying the troops, at least for now,” Vance told reporters after lunch with Senate Republicans at the Capitol. “We’ve got food stamp benefits that are set to run out in a week. We’re trying to keep as much open as possible. We just need the Democrats to actually help us out.”The vice president reaffirmed Republicans’ strategy of trying to pick off a handful of Senate Democrats to vote for stopgap funding to reopen the government. But nearly a month into the shutdown, it hasn’t worked. Just before Vance’s visit, a Senate vote on legislation to reopen the government failed for the 13th time.Federal employee union calls for end to shutdownThe strain is building on Democratic lawmakers to end the impasse. That was magnified by the nation’s largest federal employee union, which on Monday called on Congress to immediately pass a funding bill and ensure workers receive full pay. Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said the two political parties have made their point.”It’s time to pass a clean continuing resolution and end this shutdown today. No half measures, and no gamesmanship,” said Kelley, whose union carries considerable political weight with Democratic lawmakers.Still, Democratic senators, including those representing states with many federal workers, did not appear ready to back down. Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine said he was insisting on commitments from the White House to prevent the administration from mass firing more workers. Democrats also want Congress to extend subsidies for health plans under the Affordable Care Act.“We’ve got to get a deal with Donald Trump,” Kaine said.But shutdowns grow more painful the longer they go. Soon, with closures lasting a fourth full week as of Tuesday, millions of Americans are likely to experience the difficulties firsthand.“This week, more than any other week, the consequences become impossible to ignore,” said Rep. Lisa McClain, chair of the House Republican Conference.How will Trump administration reconfigure funds?The nation’s 1.3 million active duty service members were at risk of missing a paycheck on Friday. Earlier this month, the Trump administration ensured they were paid by shifting $8 billion from military research and development funds to make payroll. Vance did not say Tuesday how the Department of Defense will cover troop pay this time.Larger still, the Trump administration says funding will run out Friday for the food assistance program that is relied upon by 42 million Americans to supplement their grocery bills. The administration has rejected the use of more than $5 billion in contingency funds to keep benefits flowing into November. And it says states won’t be reimbursed if they temporarily cover the cost of benefits next month.A coalition of 25 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Massachusetts that aims to keep SNAP benefits flowing by compelling the Agriculture Department to use the SNAP contingency funds.Vance said that reconfiguring funds for various programs such as SNAP was like “trying to fit a square peg into a round hole with the budget.”The Agriculture Department says the contingency fund is intended to help respond to emergencies such as natural disasters. Democrats say the decision concerning the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, goes against the department’s previous guidance concerning its operations during a shutdown.Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the administration made an intentional choice not to the fund SNAP in November, calling it an “act of cruelty.”Another program endangered by the shutdown is Head Start, with more than 130 preschool programs not getting federal grants on Saturday if the shutdown continues, according to the National Head Start Association. All told, more than 65,000 seats at Head Start programs across the country could be affected.Judge blocks firingsA federal judge in San Francisco on Tuesday indefinitely barred the Trump administration from firing federal employees during the government shutdown, saying that labor unions were likely to prevail on their claims that the cuts were arbitrary and politically motivated.U.S. District Judge Susan Illston granted a preliminary injunction that bars the firings while a lawsuit challenging them plays out. She had previously issued a temporary restraining order against the job cuts that was set to expire Wednesday.Federal agencies are enjoined from issuing layoff notices or acting on notices issued since the government shut down Oct. 1. Illston said that her order does not apply to notices sent before the shutdown.Will lawmakers find a solution?At the Capitol, congressional leaders mostly highlighted the challenges many Americans are facing as a result of the shutdown. But there was no movement toward negotiations as they attempted to lay blame on the other side of the political aisle.“Now government workers and every other American affected by this shutdown have become nothing more than pawns in the Democrats’ political games,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.The House passed a short-term continuing resolution on Sept. 19 to keep federal agencies funded. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has kept the House out of legislative session ever since, saying the solution is for Democrats to simply accept that bill.But the Senate has consistently fallen short of the 60 votes needed to advance that spending measure. Democrats insist that any bill to fund the government also address health care costs, namely the soaring health insurance premiums that millions of Americans will face next year under plans offered through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.Window-shopping for health plans delayedWhen asked about his strategy for ending the shutdown, Schumer said that millions of Americans will begin seeing on Saturday how much their health insurance is going up next year.“People in more than 30 states are going to be aghast, aghast when they see their bills,” Schumer said. “And they are going to cry out, and I believe there will be increased pressure on Republicans to negotiate.”The window for enrolling in ACA health plans begins Saturday. In past years, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has allowed Americans to preview their health coverage options about a week before open enrollment. But, as of Tuesday, Healthcare.gov appeared to show 2025 health insurance plans and estimated prices, instead of next year’s options.Republicans insist they will not entertain negotiations on health care until the government reopens.“I’m particularly worried about premiums going up for working families,” said Sen. David McCormick, R-Pa. “So we’re going to have that conversation, but we’re not going to have it until the government opens.”___Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Joey Cappelletti in Washington and Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.

    WASHINGTON —

    Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday he believes U.S. military members will be paid at the end of the week, though he did not specify how the Trump administration will reconfigure funding as pain from the second-longest shutdown spreads nationwide.

    The funding fight in Washington gained new urgency this week as millions of Americans face the prospect of losing food assistance, more federal workers miss their first full paycheck and recurring delays at airports snarl travel plans.

    “We do think that we can continue paying the troops, at least for now,” Vance told reporters after lunch with Senate Republicans at the Capitol. “We’ve got food stamp benefits that are set to run out in a week. We’re trying to keep as much open as possible. We just need the Democrats to actually help us out.”

    The vice president reaffirmed Republicans’ strategy of trying to pick off a handful of Senate Democrats to vote for stopgap funding to reopen the government. But nearly a month into the shutdown, it hasn’t worked. Just before Vance’s visit, a Senate vote on legislation to reopen the government failed for the 13th time.

    Federal employee union calls for end to shutdown

    The strain is building on Democratic lawmakers to end the impasse. That was magnified by the nation’s largest federal employee union, which on Monday called on Congress to immediately pass a funding bill and ensure workers receive full pay. Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said the two political parties have made their point.

    “It’s time to pass a clean continuing resolution and end this shutdown today. No half measures, and no gamesmanship,” said Kelley, whose union carries considerable political weight with Democratic lawmakers.

    Still, Democratic senators, including those representing states with many federal workers, did not appear ready to back down. Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine said he was insisting on commitments from the White House to prevent the administration from mass firing more workers. Democrats also want Congress to extend subsidies for health plans under the Affordable Care Act.

    “We’ve got to get a deal with Donald Trump,” Kaine said.

    But shutdowns grow more painful the longer they go. Soon, with closures lasting a fourth full week as of Tuesday, millions of Americans are likely to experience the difficulties firsthand.

    “This week, more than any other week, the consequences become impossible to ignore,” said Rep. Lisa McClain, chair of the House Republican Conference.

    How will Trump administration reconfigure funds?

    The nation’s 1.3 million active duty service members were at risk of missing a paycheck on Friday. Earlier this month, the Trump administration ensured they were paid by shifting $8 billion from military research and development funds to make payroll. Vance did not say Tuesday how the Department of Defense will cover troop pay this time.

    Larger still, the Trump administration says funding will run out Friday for the food assistance program that is relied upon by 42 million Americans to supplement their grocery bills. The administration has rejected the use of more than $5 billion in contingency funds to keep benefits flowing into November. And it says states won’t be reimbursed if they temporarily cover the cost of benefits next month.

    A coalition of 25 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Massachusetts that aims to keep SNAP benefits flowing by compelling the Agriculture Department to use the SNAP contingency funds.

    Vance said that reconfiguring funds for various programs such as SNAP was like “trying to fit a square peg into a round hole with the budget.”

    The Agriculture Department says the contingency fund is intended to help respond to emergencies such as natural disasters. Democrats say the decision concerning the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, goes against the department’s previous guidance concerning its operations during a shutdown.

    Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the administration made an intentional choice not to the fund SNAP in November, calling it an “act of cruelty.”

    Another program endangered by the shutdown is Head Start, with more than 130 preschool programs not getting federal grants on Saturday if the shutdown continues, according to the National Head Start Association. All told, more than 65,000 seats at Head Start programs across the country could be affected.

    Judge blocks firings

    A federal judge in San Francisco on Tuesday indefinitely barred the Trump administration from firing federal employees during the government shutdown, saying that labor unions were likely to prevail on their claims that the cuts were arbitrary and politically motivated.

    U.S. District Judge Susan Illston granted a preliminary injunction that bars the firings while a lawsuit challenging them plays out. She had previously issued a temporary restraining order against the job cuts that was set to expire Wednesday.

    Federal agencies are enjoined from issuing layoff notices or acting on notices issued since the government shut down Oct. 1. Illston said that her order does not apply to notices sent before the shutdown.

    Will lawmakers find a solution?

    At the Capitol, congressional leaders mostly highlighted the challenges many Americans are facing as a result of the shutdown. But there was no movement toward negotiations as they attempted to lay blame on the other side of the political aisle.

    “Now government workers and every other American affected by this shutdown have become nothing more than pawns in the Democrats’ political games,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.

    The House passed a short-term continuing resolution on Sept. 19 to keep federal agencies funded. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has kept the House out of legislative session ever since, saying the solution is for Democrats to simply accept that bill.

    But the Senate has consistently fallen short of the 60 votes needed to advance that spending measure. Democrats insist that any bill to fund the government also address health care costs, namely the soaring health insurance premiums that millions of Americans will face next year under plans offered through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

    Window-shopping for health plans delayed

    When asked about his strategy for ending the shutdown, Schumer said that millions of Americans will begin seeing on Saturday how much their health insurance is going up next year.

    “People in more than 30 states are going to be aghast, aghast when they see their bills,” Schumer said. “And they are going to cry out, and I believe there will be increased pressure on Republicans to negotiate.”

    The window for enrolling in ACA health plans begins Saturday. In past years, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has allowed Americans to preview their health coverage options about a week before open enrollment. But, as of Tuesday, Healthcare.gov appeared to show 2025 health insurance plans and estimated prices, instead of next year’s options.

    Republicans insist they will not entertain negotiations on health care until the government reopens.

    “I’m particularly worried about premiums going up for working families,” said Sen. David McCormick, R-Pa. “So we’re going to have that conversation, but we’re not going to have it until the government opens.”

    ___

    Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Joey Cappelletti in Washington and Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.

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  • Get the Facts: Health insurance expected to rise if tax credits expire amid government shutdown

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    At the core of the government shutdown is a debate about the extension of health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, first implemented in 2021.The shutdown began at the start of the new fiscal year, Oct. 1. In budget negotiations, Democrats were aiming to extend the expanded subsidies, set to expire at the end of 2025, while Republicans have emphasized reopening the government before beginning health care talks.If these tax credits expire, it’s estimated that the more than 24 million people enrolled in marketplace plans will pay twice as much out of pocket, according to Jeanne Lambrew, director of health care reform at the Century Foundation. KFF estimated the average premium payment would increase 114% from $888 to $1,904 without expanded subsidies.Plus, the impacts could be felt even sooner as open enrollment is set to begin Nov. 1 for people to select health insurance coverage for 2026. The ACA, sometimes referred to as “Obamacare,” was designed to make health care affordable and accessible via marketplaces, Lambrew said, who also worked on drafting and implementing the ACA during the Obama administration.The goal of the marketplaces were to fill in the gaps, according to Lambrew. It is for people who make too much to qualify for Medicaid, but also for people who don’t have access to affordable insurance through their work.Enrollment in the ACA has increased since its passage in 2014, but really climbed in the last five years. From 2020 to 2025, enrollment more than doubled as a result of expanded tax credits passed in the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021, which increased the subsidies and lifted a cap that disqualified people making four times the poverty level or more from being eligible for the subsidies. Under 2025 guidelines for the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the federal poverty level is $15,650 for a one-person household. At 400%, it’s $62,600.Nearly all states saw an increase in enrollment under the ACA from 2020 to 2025, with 20 states more than doubling in enrollment.Six states more than tripled in the number of people enrolled under the ACA — Texas, Mississippi, West Virginia, Louisiana, Georgia and Tennessee.States that President Donald Trump won in the 2024 election have the majority of enrollees, according to an analysis from KFF.“We know that three out of four enrollees in the health insurance marketplace live in states that voted for President Trump in 2024,” Lambrew said. “So this is not a partisan issue, it’s a nationwide issue, and it affects people in different ways, but the overall effect is significant.”Who is impacted?The subsidies, also called tax credits, at the center of the shutdown are utilized by about 92% of people enrolled in marketplace plans under the ACA, according to data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.These expanded credits allow households of different sizes and income levels to be capped with maximum out-of-pocket costs.Once the expanded tax credits expire at the end of this year, the out-of-pocket maximums will increase across the board, and people making above four times the poverty level will become ineligible for any tax credits.More than 6.7% of those who were enrolled in ACA plans earned more than 400% of the federal poverty level, accounting for 1.6 million people. Once the subsidies expire, these enrollees would no longer qualify for the subsidies under the ACA.Also heavily impacted are people approaching retirement age. The age group with the highest enrollment in marketplace plans is ages 55 to 64, data shows. KFF estimated in March that about half the enrollees who would lose the tax credit upon expiration are between 50 and 64.As people grow closer to retirement age, they may not rely as much on employer-provided insurance before turning 65 and qualifying for Medicaid, according to Lambrew.How much would premiums change?KFF has estimated the average premium will more than double next year if the expanded subsidies were to expire.In addition to the potential ending of the subsidies, insurance rates are projected to rise across marketplace plans and employer-provided insurance.”I looked at Medicare history, employer-sponsored insurance history, marketplace history. Without a doubt, this is the highest one-year increase in premiums for people in history,” Lambrew said.The Get the Facts Data Team analyzed maximum out-of-pocket rate changes for benchmark plans to find how rates may change.A one-person household with an annual income of $25,000 — a little more than 1.5 times the federal poverty level — is estimated to go from paying a maximum $100 out of pocket annually to $1,168. They would pay a maximum of less than $98 a month — 10 times more than the previous payment of less than $9 a month.Households with an income between 100% and 150% of the federal poverty level made up the largest share of enrollees at almost 45%. Under the expanded subsidies, they aren’t required to pay anything out of pocket for benchmark plans.If the tax credits expire, they will pay a maximum between 2.1% and 4.19% of their income annually. At 1.5 times the federal poverty level, a one-person household would be earning $23,475 annually and may have to pay nearly $984 a year.The interactive below shows how the maximum out-of-pocket rates for benchmark plans may change if expanded subsidies expire for one, two and four-person households at various incomes. Estimates were calculated using maximum out-of-pocket rates from KFF published by the IRS, along with 2025 federal poverty level data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for the 48 contiguous states plus D.C. The tool is not intended to calculate an individual’s actual payments. Healthcare.gov and other state marketplaces are the best source for specific premium costs.PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiPiFmdW5jdGlvbigpeyJ1c2Ugc3RyaWN0Ijt3aW5kb3cuYWRkRXZlbnRMaXN0ZW5lcigibWVzc2FnZSIsKGZ1bmN0aW9uKGUpe2lmKHZvaWQgMCE9PWUuZGF0YVsiZGF0YXdyYXBwZXItaGVpZ2h0Il0pe3ZhciB0PWRvY3VtZW50LnF1ZXJ5U2VsZWN0b3JBbGwoImlmcmFtZSIpO2Zvcih2YXIgYSBpbiBlLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdKWZvcih2YXIgcj0wO3I8dC5sZW5ndGg7cisrKXtpZih0W3JdLmNvbnRlbnRXaW5kb3c9PT1lLnNvdXJjZSl0W3JdLnN0eWxlLmhlaWdodD1lLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdW2FdKyJweCJ9fX0pKX0oKTs8L3NjcmlwdD4=

    WASHINGTON —

    At the core of the government shutdown is a debate about the extension of health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, first implemented in 2021.

    The shutdown began at the start of the new fiscal year, Oct. 1. In budget negotiations, Democrats were aiming to extend the expanded subsidies, set to expire at the end of 2025, while Republicans have emphasized reopening the government before beginning health care talks.

    If these tax credits expire, it’s estimated that the more than 24 million people enrolled in marketplace plans will pay twice as much out of pocket, according to Jeanne Lambrew, director of health care reform at the Century Foundation. KFF estimated the average premium payment would increase 114% from $888 to $1,904 without expanded subsidies.

    Plus, the impacts could be felt even sooner as open enrollment is set to begin Nov. 1 for people to select health insurance coverage for 2026.

    The ACA, sometimes referred to as “Obamacare,” was designed to make health care affordable and accessible via marketplaces, Lambrew said, who also worked on drafting and implementing the ACA during the Obama administration.

    The goal of the marketplaces were to fill in the gaps, according to Lambrew. It is for people who make too much to qualify for Medicaid, but also for people who don’t have access to affordable insurance through their work.

    Enrollment in the ACA has increased since its passage in 2014, but really climbed in the last five years.

    From 2020 to 2025, enrollment more than doubled as a result of expanded tax credits passed in the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021, which increased the subsidies and lifted a cap that disqualified people making four times the poverty level or more from being eligible for the subsidies.

    Under 2025 guidelines for the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the federal poverty level is $15,650 for a one-person household. At 400%, it’s $62,600.

    Nearly all states saw an increase in enrollment under the ACA from 2020 to 2025, with 20 states more than doubling in enrollment.

    Six states more than tripled in the number of people enrolled under the ACA — Texas, Mississippi, West Virginia, Louisiana, Georgia and Tennessee.

    States that President Donald Trump won in the 2024 election have the majority of enrollees, according to an analysis from KFF.

    “We know that three out of four enrollees in the health insurance marketplace live in states that voted for President Trump in 2024,” Lambrew said. “So this is not a partisan issue, it’s a nationwide issue, and it affects people in different ways, but the overall effect is significant.”

    Who is impacted?

    The subsidies, also called tax credits, at the center of the shutdown are utilized by about 92% of people enrolled in marketplace plans under the ACA, according to data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

    These expanded credits allow households of different sizes and income levels to be capped with maximum out-of-pocket costs.

    Once the expanded tax credits expire at the end of this year, the out-of-pocket maximums will increase across the board, and people making above four times the poverty level will become ineligible for any tax credits.

    More than 6.7% of those who were enrolled in ACA plans earned more than 400% of the federal poverty level, accounting for 1.6 million people. Once the subsidies expire, these enrollees would no longer qualify for the subsidies under the ACA.

    Also heavily impacted are people approaching retirement age. The age group with the highest enrollment in marketplace plans is ages 55 to 64, data shows.

    KFF estimated in March that about half the enrollees who would lose the tax credit upon expiration are between 50 and 64.

    As people grow closer to retirement age, they may not rely as much on employer-provided insurance before turning 65 and qualifying for Medicaid, according to Lambrew.

    How much would premiums change?

    KFF has estimated the average premium will more than double next year if the expanded subsidies were to expire.

    In addition to the potential ending of the subsidies, insurance rates are projected to rise across marketplace plans and employer-provided insurance.

    “I looked at Medicare history, employer-sponsored insurance history, marketplace history. Without a doubt, this is the highest one-year increase in premiums for people in history,” Lambrew said.

    The Get the Facts Data Team analyzed maximum out-of-pocket rate changes for benchmark plans to find how rates may change.

    A one-person household with an annual income of $25,000 — a little more than 1.5 times the federal poverty level — is estimated to go from paying a maximum $100 out of pocket annually to $1,168.

    They would pay a maximum of less than $98 a month — 10 times more than the previous payment of less than $9 a month.

    Households with an income between 100% and 150% of the federal poverty level made up the largest share of enrollees at almost 45%. Under the expanded subsidies, they aren’t required to pay anything out of pocket for benchmark plans.

    If the tax credits expire, they will pay a maximum between 2.1% and 4.19% of their income annually. At 1.5 times the federal poverty level, a one-person household would be earning $23,475 annually and may have to pay nearly $984 a year.

    The interactive below shows how the maximum out-of-pocket rates for benchmark plans may change if expanded subsidies expire for one, two and four-person households at various incomes. Estimates were calculated using maximum out-of-pocket rates from KFF published by the IRS, along with 2025 federal poverty level data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for the 48 contiguous states plus D.C.

    The tool is not intended to calculate an individual’s actual payments. Healthcare.gov and other state marketplaces are the best source for specific premium costs.

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  • Republicans unveil a bill to fund the government through Nov. 21. Democrats call it partisan

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    House Republicans unveiled on Tuesday a stopgap spending bill that would keep federal agencies funded through Nov. 21, daring Democrats to block it knowing that the fallout would likely be a partial government shutdown that would begin Oct. 1, the start of the new budget year.The bill would generally fund agencies at current levels, with a few limited exceptions, including an extra $88 million to boost security for lawmakers and members of the Supreme Court and the executive branch. The proposed boost comes as lawmakers face an increasing number of personal threats, with their concerns heightened by last week’s assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.The House is expected to vote on the measure by Friday. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he would prefer the Senate take it up this week as well. But any bill will need some Democratic support to advance through the Senate, and it’s unclear whether that will happen.Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries have been asking their Republican counterparts for weeks for a meeting to negotiate on the bill, but they say that Republicans have refused. Any bill needs help from at least seven Democrats in the Senate to overcome procedural hurdles and advance to a final vote.The two Democratic leaders issued a joint statement saying that by “refusing to work with Democrats, Republicans are steering our country toward a shutdown.””The House Republican-only spending bill fails to meet the needs of the American people and does nothing to stop the looming healthcare crisis,” Schumer and Jeffries said. “At a time when families are already being squeezed by higher costs, Republicans refuse to stop Americans from facing double-digit hikes in their health insurance premiums.”Republicans say it’s Democrats who are playing politics by insisting on addressing health coverage concerns as part of any government funding bill. In past budget battles, it has been Republicans who’ve been willing to engage in shutdown threats as a way to focus attention on their priority demands. That was the situation during the nation’s longest shutdown, during the winter of 2018-19, when President Donald Trump was insisting on federal funds to build the U.S.-Mexico border wall.This time, however, Democrats are facing intense pressure from their base of supporters to stand up to Trump. They have particularly focused on the potential for skyrocketing health care premiums for millions of Americans if Congress fails to extend enhanced subsidies, which many people use to buy insurance on the Affordable Care Act exchange. Those subsidies were put in place during the COVID crisis, but are set to expire.Some people have already received notices that their premiums — the monthly fee paid for insurance coverage — are poised to spike next year. Insurers have sent out notices in nearly every state, with some proposing premium increases of as much as 50%.Johnson called the debate over health insurance tax credits a December policy issue, not something that needs to be solved in September.”It’ll be a clean, short-term continuing resolution, end of story,” Johnson told reporters. “And it’s interesting to me that some of the same Democrats who decried government shutdowns under President Biden appear to have no heartache whatsoever at walking our nation off that cliff right now. I hope they don’t.”Thune said Republicans are simply providing what Schumer has always requested in the past when Democrats were in the majority — “a clean funding resolution to fund the government.” He said that if the House passes the measure and Trump is prepared to sign it, then “it will be only the Democrat leader that is standing between this country and a government shutdown and all that means.”

    WASHINGTON —

    House Republicans unveiled on Tuesday a stopgap spending bill that would keep federal agencies funded through Nov. 21, daring Democrats to block it knowing that the fallout would likely be a partial government shutdown that would begin Oct. 1, the start of the new budget year.

    The bill would generally fund agencies at current levels, with a few limited exceptions, including an extra $88 million to boost security for lawmakers and members of the Supreme Court and the executive branch. The proposed boost comes as lawmakers face an increasing number of personal threats, with their concerns heightened by last week’s assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

    The House is expected to vote on the measure by Friday. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he would prefer the Senate take it up this week as well. But any bill will need some Democratic support to advance through the Senate, and it’s unclear whether that will happen.

    Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries have been asking their Republican counterparts for weeks for a meeting to negotiate on the bill, but they say that Republicans have refused. Any bill needs help from at least seven Democrats in the Senate to overcome procedural hurdles and advance to a final vote.

    The two Democratic leaders issued a joint statement saying that by “refusing to work with Democrats, Republicans are steering our country toward a shutdown.”

    “The House Republican-only spending bill fails to meet the needs of the American people and does nothing to stop the looming healthcare crisis,” Schumer and Jeffries said. “At a time when families are already being squeezed by higher costs, Republicans refuse to stop Americans from facing double-digit hikes in their health insurance premiums.”

    Republicans say it’s Democrats who are playing politics by insisting on addressing health coverage concerns as part of any government funding bill. In past budget battles, it has been Republicans who’ve been willing to engage in shutdown threats as a way to focus attention on their priority demands. That was the situation during the nation’s longest shutdown, during the winter of 2018-19, when President Donald Trump was insisting on federal funds to build the U.S.-Mexico border wall.

    This time, however, Democrats are facing intense pressure from their base of supporters to stand up to Trump. They have particularly focused on the potential for skyrocketing health care premiums for millions of Americans if Congress fails to extend enhanced subsidies, which many people use to buy insurance on the Affordable Care Act exchange. Those subsidies were put in place during the COVID crisis, but are set to expire.

    Some people have already received notices that their premiums — the monthly fee paid for insurance coverage — are poised to spike next year. Insurers have sent out notices in nearly every state, with some proposing premium increases of as much as 50%.

    Johnson called the debate over health insurance tax credits a December policy issue, not something that needs to be solved in September.

    “It’ll be a clean, short-term continuing resolution, end of story,” Johnson told reporters. “And it’s interesting to me that some of the same Democrats who decried government shutdowns under President Biden appear to have no heartache whatsoever at walking our nation off that cliff right now. I hope they don’t.”

    Thune said Republicans are simply providing what Schumer has always requested in the past when Democrats were in the majority — “a clean funding resolution to fund the government.” He said that if the House passes the measure and Trump is prepared to sign it, then “it will be only the Democrat leader that is standing between this country and a government shutdown and all that means.”

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