McBride on CNN: “Republicans have refused to come to the table to work with us”

WASHINGTON, D.C. -Today, Congresswoman Sarah McBride (DE-AL) joined CNN's The Lead with Jake Tapperto discuss the ongoing government shutdown and its impact on Delaware families.

During the interview, Rep. McBride called on congressional Republicans to end the stalemate and work with Democrats to reopen the government and extend Affordable Care Act premium tax credits.

"I think what Leader Schumer was referring to was the growing public support for Democrats and Republicans to come together to fix this health care crisis and to reopen government," McBride said. "The overwhelming majority of Americans wants to work together, want Republicans to come to the negotiating table so that we can extend the ACA tax credits and reopen government.

"We are in this position because Republicans have refused to come to the table to work with us over the last several months and because of their refusal to collaborate with us, put on their big boy pants, and negotiate.

"Thousands of my constituents are receiving furloughs who work for the federal government and thousands more are receiving letters notifying them of skyrocketing premiums. We can do both of these things and the public wants us to do, and I think that's what Leader Schumer was referring to."

Asked whether Democrats should pursue individual negotiations to secure votes on health care funding, McBride rejected the idea that Republican leaders would follow through on any handshake deal.

"What's clear is the Speaker won't bring it up for a vote," she said. "We can't trust them to bring this up for a vote out of goodwill or good intentions. We cannot trust that they will abide by any deal that's done by a handshake. We need this all to be done together because Republicans have kicked the can down the road already. And they clearly are unwilling to solve this health care crisis because it's of their own choosing.

"They created this crisis in order to raid Americans' health care so that they can pay partially for the tax breaks for their billionaire donors that they passed in July.

"And so look, if Republicans wanted us to just abide by their word then they wouldn't have conducted themselves over the last several months in a way that shows us time and time again that they cannot be trusted when it comes to their goodwill and their good intentions and when they have clearly tried to make this health care crisis worse. We need a deal on this and they need to come to the table."

Rep. McBride reaffirmed her commitment to delivering solutions for Delaware families affected by the shutdown - from furloughed federal workers to those facing higher premiums - and reiterated her call for bipartisan cooperation to reopen the government. The full segment is available for download here.

The Republican-led shutdown began after Congress failed to pass a spending agreement before September 30. The stalemate stems from the GOP's refusal to extend ACA premium tax credits - a move that could drive up health-care costs by as much as 90 percent for some Americans. House Republican leadership has canceled votes for the second straight week.

Rep. McBride has co-sponsored multiple bipartisan bills to protect federal workers' pay and prevent future shutdowns.

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