House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has escalated the government shutdown crisis by demanding an ‘ironclad’ health care agreement in legislation to secure Democratic support ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline. With no communication between the GOP and Democratic leaders and President Trump blocking bipartisan talks, Jeffries insists any health care deal must be ‘in legislation’ to ensure its permanence and protect millions of Americans reliant on expiring insurance subsidies.
Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have been seeking to focus the shutdown fight on health care, especially with the insurance subsidies used by more than 20 million Americans set to expire at the end of the year. GOP leaders have expressed an openness to negotiating on an extension, but they have rejected entering into talks this month and have put forward a ‘clean’ seven-week stopgap bill instead.
It’s not clear whether Senate Democrats are drawing the same red line on potential health care negotiations. Schumer recently sidestepped a question about whether a GOP commitment to work on the insurance subsidies and other health care issues would be enough to earn Democratic votes for a shutdown-averting punt. Some progressive Democrats are publicly and privately fretting that Schumer and Senate Democrats will once again cave to pressure and vote to advance a GOP-led stopgap—as 10 Senate Democrats, including Schumer, did in March.
Jeffries said he and Schumer would talk ‘at some point later on today.’ Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said a symbolic vote or other toothless gesture would not suffice. ‘Democrats need to put up a real fight against’ the GOP bill, he wrote on X Wednesday, ‘not just put on a show then cave for crumbs.’