AFT’s Weingarten Responds to Shutdown-Ending House Vote

WASHINGTON-AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement responding to the House vote to end President Trump and Republicans' federal government shutdown:

"Like many Americans, we are deeply disappointed that Affordable Care Act tax credits have not been restored as part of reopening the federal government.

"Our 1.8 million members have been fighting to prevent a full-blown healthcare crisis, and we have repeatedly called on Congress and the president to fund the government, pay workers and lower costs for all Americans. That includes the healthcare premiums that are set to skyrocket.

"Instead, President Trump and his administration used the government shutdown to inflict even more pain on Americans. Rather than working with Democrats to lower healthcare costs, they fired thousands of federal employees, snarled air transportation and denied food aid through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, putting up to 42 million Americans at risk of going hungry.

"It is unfathomable that Trump would cause such tremendous pain to prevent a continuation of healthcare credits that primarily support families in red states that he won. It is estimated that the discontinuation of these tax credits means 8,811 people will die and 4.8 million will be without health insurance. In 2026 alone, 340,000 jobs will be lost and hospitals will lose $32 billion.

"How is this administration supporting working families? It's not.

"These families aren't a priority for Trump. But the Senate majority leader has agreed to a stand-alone vote on continuing these lifesaving healthcare tax credits. So Republicans will have an opportunity to do the right thing for their constituents. They can finally stand up for them, recognize how they will suffer and vote for an ACA tax credit extension in the Senate and join a discharge petition in the House to require a vote.

"If they do not, they will continue to own this problem as healthcare premiums go through the roof on Jan. 1. And AFT members will do everything possible to remind voters next year of who is on the side of working families."

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The AFT represents 1.8 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers; paraprofessionals and other school-related personnel; higher education faculty and professional staff; federal, state and local government employees; nurses and healthcare workers; and early childhood educators.