A group of Senate Democrats have reportedly reached a deal with Republicans to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, but both of New Jersey’s senators are not on board.
Senators Andy Kim and Cory Booker said in separate statements tonight that they oppose the deal, which entails a bloc of Senate Democrats voting to support a stopgap bill that funds the government through January 2026; it needs 60 votes to pass, a rule that has enabled Democrats to block prior bills for the last month. In exchange, Senate Republicans will allow a vote on extending Affordable Care Act subsidies, a key Democratic priority, as well as other compromises on funding levels and federal worker backpay.
“I can’t support this bill. It doesn’t meet the urgency of the moment and deliver actual relief that can pass both chambers of Congress,” Kim said. “Trump and Republican leaders created this crisis, and they’ve only used it to make things worse for working families by withholding food assistance for millions for their own political gain. This fight isn’t over, and I’m going to continue to stand with so many who are being hurt.”
“As I’ve always said, I will not support a government funding bill that continues to raise our costs, jeopardizes our health care, and hurts the people of my state,” Booker said. “I will not let up in this fight. I will vote no.”
Democrats in both the House and the Senate have insisted since the beginning of the shutdown that any deal to reopen the government must also include an extension of Obamacare subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of this year, hiking health care costs for millions of people. The deal, which is set to begin working its way through the Senate tonight, does not guarantee a fix to that problem, prompting many Democrats – among them Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer – to say they still oppose the deal.
If eight Democrats break with their party to support the deal, however, it will likely be able to pass Congress. Most Democrats in the House will likely remain opposed to the bill – as they have been for the past month and a half, during which time House Republicans have kept their chamber out of service entirely – but they have far less ability to block legislation than their Senate counterparts.
One of those Democrats is Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill, who remains a House member for the time being. She said in a statement that she, too, opposes the deal, calling it “malpractice” for Senate Democrats to consider supporting it.
“Voters made it clear: the American people want leadership with a backbone,” Sherrill said, referring to her own landslide victory and those of other Democrats around the country on Tuesday. “And at a critical moment when they need leaders to stay strong under pressure, the Senate is on the brink of caving on a bill that the American people can’t afford.”
If a vote on Obamacare subsidies does eventually come up, it remains an open question whether enough Republicans will support it to allow it to pass. In the House, a small cohort of Republicans has vociferously promoted a bill that would extend the subsidies for a year, which they say would give Congress enough time to come up with a longer-term solution; among those Republicans are New Jersey Reps. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) and Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis).
In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson last month, the pro-extension Republicans made their case, saying that “while we did not create this crisis, we now have both the responsibility and the opportunity to address it.” And on Fox News this morning, Van Drew gave another reason he supports an extension: it’d be terrible politics for Republicans if they let the subsidies expire.
“In the longer-term, within a year, we are going to have a good, solid, thorough replacement for what is terrible, Obamacare,” Van Drew said. “But in the short term, people are getting their renewal notices, their premiums are doubling. So I’m saying, we need to deal with that now, because otherwise – number one, it’s the right thing to do, just morally. Number two, we’re going to get killed.
”I’m going to be very blunt again – it’s about winning,” he continued. “We have to win the midterms. It’s going to be a hell of a hard thing to do, and if people are struggling with their health care, it’s not going to help us.”
