With the Trump Shutdown Looming, Republicans Leave DC as Millions of Americans Are Set To Lose Their Health Care Arrow

Rather than negotiate in good faith with Democrats to pass government funding before the funding deadline, Speaker Mike Johnson sent Republicans home amid a looming government shutdown, which would hurt working families.

Democrats are committed to making health care more affordable - not less. That's why Democrats proposed a common sense funding bill that would keep the government open, while extending health care subsidies and reversing the devastating health care cuts in Trump's billionaire-first budget bill. On Friday, Republicans shot that down, making clear they're more focused on handouts to the rich than on the millions of Americans who are going to lose health care coverage.

In response, DNC Communications Director Rosemary Boeglin released the following statement:

"Donald Trump and his cronies in Congress would rather shut down the government than work with Democrats to prevent a massive health care crisis for millions of families. Trump and Republicans are responsible for skyrocketing costs and the biggest cuts to health care in American history - and now, they won't even come to the table with Democrats who are trying to clean up their mess. When Democrats gave Republicans an opportunity to deliver lower healthcare costs for the American people, Republicans flat-out rejected it. Trump and Republicans are barreling towards a government shutdown that would throw the economy into even more chaos when working families can least afford it."

Instead of working to avoid a government shutdown, Trump and his Republican Party are putting working families at risk of additional economic hardship. A Republican-created government shutdown would leave over 22 million Americans at risk of skyrocketing premiums. If Republicans follow through on their plan to eliminate healthcare subsidies, data show an average increase in out-of-pocket costs of 75%. That's on top of the more than 15 million Americans who will lose health care thanks to Trump's Billionaire-First Budget Bill. Hospitals across the country are already starting to close because of Republicans' Medicaid cuts, and this trend will only continue because of their recklessness.

Donald Trump has a long history of putting working families last and happily shutting down the government if he doesn't get his way. In 2018, he even said he would be "proud to shut down the government." This time, he is refusing to even negotiate in good faith with Democrats, instead saying that he doesn't "think it will have any impact" and that "we could very well end up with a closed country for a period of time." The American people deserve better.