‘Hostages’: GOP Senators Say Schumer’s Shutdown Tactics Destroying Senate
As the government shutdown stretches into its twentieth day, tensions in Washington continue to escalate with little sign of compromise between Senate Democrats and Republicans. At the center of the impasse is a dispute over the future of expiring Obamacare subsidies—an issue that Senate Democrats, led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, have made a firm condition for any deal to reopen the government.
The deadlock began more than three weeks ago when Democrats blocked the GOP-led continuing resolution (CR) passed by the House. Since then, negotiations have stagnated, leaving federal operations paralyzed and hundreds of thousands of government employees in limbo.
“I think Schumer has basically sort of destroyed the institution of the Senate,” said Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla. “He has, you know, whether it’s what he’s done on the nominees or with this shutdown. I think he’s made government unmanageable. So, hopefully, this is not the way we continue to operate.”
Republicans now accuse Democrats of “holding the government hostage” over a political issue that could be addressed after reopening federal agencies. “We can’t negotiate with them until we come out of shutdown,” Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said. “You can’t hold the government hostage. And that’s why it’s very important — we’ve said we’ll work on all these different issues they want to bring up. But you can’t shut down the government, hold the government hostage as part of negotiation.”
Despite informal discussions, progress has been minimal. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., offered Democrats a vote on the Affordable Care Act’s premium tax credits in exchange for reopening the government, but Democrats rejected the proposal, demanding stronger guarantees. Thune later expressed frustration, warning, “The Dems, someday, they’re going to rue the day they did this, because we have offered up an open appropriations process, regular order, doing things that way.”
The impasse shows no sign of breaking, as both parties prepare for what could become one of the longest shutdowns in recent history.