House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, DN.Y., is holding a press conference on government funding deadlines at the Wil Rogers Corridor at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, September 24, 2025.
Bill Clark | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. |Getty Images
Congressional Democrats are delving into demands that Obamacare health insurance subsidies be protected just a few days before the federal government shuts down if Republicans don’t agree to the question.
Congress is scheduled to return to Capitol Hill on Monday, and lawmakers have given them just two days to reach a deal that will keep the government from closing down from Wednesday.
Republicans are demanding Senate Democrats help pass a squealing suspension bill last week. Such a bill must adopt 60 votes.
Top Democrats argue that the short-term funding bill includes protections for healthcare programs, including an extension of tax credits that has been enhanced by the Affordable Care Act.
These credits help people reduce the costs of health insurance plans purchased in the Obamacare market.
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, DN.Y., warned Wednesday that “any agreement” on health care in budget consultations is necessary “by iron and under law.”
“At this particular point, there is no trust between House Democrats and House Republicans, given the fact that they consistently tried to undermine the bipartisan agreements they themselves have reached,” Jeffries said at a news conference.
“We have to have conversations with Republicans to work to decisively resolve the healthcare crisis they have created,” Jeffries said.
“And part of that health care crisis has been linked to Republican refusal to extend the affordable care law tax credit.”
Democrats have dismissed warnings from the White House administration that federal agencies should prepare for mass shootings if funding contracts are not attacked.
Jeffries was called OMB Director Russ Vought, a “malignant political hack.”
“We are not threatened by your threat of engaging in mass firing,” Jeffries wrote to X.
Republicans are plagued by Democrats’ healthcare demands.
Senate majority leader John Tune, Rs.D. called them “irrational and unsafe.”
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) responded to X’s Thune.
“Democrats are fighting to lower prices, but Republicans are failing their families,” Schumer said.
Jeffries and Schumer called for a meeting on the conflict with President Donald Trump. But Trump cancelled the meeting on Tuesday, escalating the possibility of closure next week.
“We have determined that meetings with Congressional leaders are not productive,” Trump said.
Jeffries fired back.
“Donald Trump will wake up Tuesday morning, anger an indifferent rant and cancel the meeting,” Jeffries said. “Why? Because he doesn’t want to discuss the Republican health crisis, so they decided to shut down the government.”
Democrats bet that Republicans, who hold a narrow majority in both Houses of Congress and the White House, will be blamed for the closure.
And with the 2026 midterm elections far more than a year away, voters believe that if Obamacare subsidies are gone, voters will punish Republicans.
If these tax credits expire, the average premium for millions of Americans could rise by about 75%, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group.
Republicans say on their part they are embracing the debate about extending grants – just not now.
“(It’s) a policy debate and decision for December, not a September funding,” R-La said. House Speaker Mike Johnson said last week on CNBC’s “Scoobox.”
Republicans are calling for a “clean” suspension funds bill without adding any policies.
Senate Republicans need a small number of Democrats to vote with them to pass any law to keep the government open, as their majority is narrow.
One of the big questions that underpin the talks is whether Senate Democrats, including Schumer, will ultimately vote with Republicans to keep the government open, as was done in March.
At the time, Schumer voted with Republicans to keep the government open, causing a sharp push from his party’s progressive wings.
At least one Democrat Senator, Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman, has expressed his opposition to Democrats’ current closure strategy.
