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The deal that ended the federal government shutdown this week is, like most political agreements, far from perfect. Most glaring, there is no commitment to extend the federal subsidies that help make health insurance purchased through the Affordable Care Act affordable. Instead, Republicans have agreed to hold a vote on a possible extension.
So, it is easy to see why many people, including progressive Democrats, are understandably upset that several members of the Senate Democratic caucus, including Maine’s independent Sen. Angus King, voted for the agreement to end the shutdown. It was approved by the House and signed by President Donald Trump on Wednesday night.
It is important, however, to look at the agreement, which closely mirrors a draft plan put together by Sen. Susan Collins several weeks ago, in the light of reality, not unreasonable hope.
That reality shows that, as the federal shutdown continued, millions of Americans were in danger of losing essential food aid that kept them, their children and their families fed. Many states, including Maine, stepped up to ensure Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits were available this month, but that was not a long-term solution. And it should be widely noted that the Trump administration was actively fighting in court to stop SNAP benefits during the shutdown, going so far as to threaten states that continued the benefits. In other words, the Trump administration was willing to fight to ensure that Americans went hungry.
Support for pregnant and new mothers and heating assistance were also under threat as the shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, dragged on.
The reality was that more than 1 million federal workers went without paychecks for a month and a half. Many of them were required to work but did not get paid. The Trump administration threatened to withhold their back pay. The bipartisan agreement to end the shutdown requires that federal workers get the back pay they are owed. It also undoes Trump administration firings that were done during the shutdown and funds several agencies and SNAP for a full year.
Air traffic controllers and TSA screeners were among those not getting paid. A shortage of these workers was causing flight delays and cancellations at airports around the country.
Many of those who oppose the Senate agreement, particularly progressive Democrats, urged lawmakers to continue to fight. Fighting, however, doesn’t put food on the table of hungry Americans. Fighting doesn’t help unpaid federal workers pay their bills. Fighting doesn’t staff control towers and keep flights safe and on time.
If the shutdown continued, these and other hardships would have continued, and likely worsened, without any guarantee that the ACA subsidies would be extended.
And, don’t forget, Trump was pushing Republicans in the Senate to abandon the filibuster to pass a short-term spending bill, without many of the beneficial provisions in this compromise plan, without any Democratic support. Ending the filibuster would have given the president far more power to enact a dangerous agenda, while completely sidelining Democrats in the Senate, whether they wanted to fight or not.
We understand complaints that King and the seven Democrats who voted for the plan in the Senate gave up too easily. Of course, the tax credits that make health insurance more affordable for those who buy their insurance through the ACA need to be extended. Without an extension, premiums for these Americans, many of whom are small-business owners, will double and even triple. Rural areas will be hit the hardest and many will forgo health insurance, which will endanger their health and put pressure on already struggling hospitals.
The Senate agreement to end the shutdown calls for a vote next month to extend the subsidies which is far from a guarantee that this will happen. In the House, Rep. Jared Golden, a co-sponsor of a bill to extend the ACA subsidies for a year, voted for the agreement, while Rep. Chellie Pingree voted against it.
Republicans, however, do not seem eager to bolster the ACA. Many want to repeal it. So, extending the subsidies remains a significant challenge. Congressional Republicans are already tying additional abortion restrictions to an extension of the tax credits. This is a nonstarter.
The challenge now for Collins, who drafted the framework of this plan and built bipartisan support, and for King, who long voted to end the shutdown while pushing for an extension of the tax credits, is to bring enough of their colleagues along to support an extension.
Ending the shutdown with a bipartisan deal is a good step. But it must be followed by an extension of ACA subsidies to keep health insurance accessible to millions of Americans.
