US government shutdown enters second week; quiet talks on health care emerge

The US government shutdown has entered its second week with no clear resolution. While Trump and Congress remain at odds, quiet bipartisan discussions are emerging over expiring health care subsidies, a key issue fueling the political deadlock.

Washington: Tours at the Capitol have come to a standstill. The House is keeping its doors closed, while the Senate is stuck in a loop of failed votes on a rejected plan to reopen the government. President Donald Trump is threatening to mass fire federal workers and refuse back pay for the rest.

As the government shutdown enters a second week, there’s no discernible endgame in sight.

---

“You have to negotiate,” Sen Bernie Sanders, the independent from Vermont, argued late into the evening on the Senate floor. “That’s the way it works.” But no negotiations, at least publicly, are underway.

Shutdown grinds on, but signs of quiet talks

The Republicans who have majority control in Congress believe they have the upper hand politically, as they fend off Democratic demands to quickly fund health insurance subsidies as part of any plan to end the shutdown.

But so have Democrats dug in, convinced that Americans are on their side in the fight to prevent the looming health care price spikes and blaming Trump for the shutdown. Behind the scenes, though, signs of discomfort are apparent.

A loosely formed collection of senators, Republicans and Democrats, have bantered about options for addressing the health insurance problem. One, Sen Susan Collins of Maine, has offered her own plans.

Two prominent Republicans, Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Sen Josh Hawley of Missouri, have said something must be done to stop the health insurance rate hikes.

And Trump himself signalled he was open to negotiating with Democrats over their demands to save health care subsidies. Earlier this week, the president said that talks were already underway as he wants “great health care” for the people, only to shift his tone hours later to say the government must reopen first.

Trump wants to make a health care deal

“I spoke to the president at length yesterday about that very thing,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said about his Monday conversation with Trump. “And yes, he wants to solve problems.”

At its core, the debate is over the health care issue that has tangled Congress for years, and in particular, the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, that Trump tried, and failed, to repeal and replace during his first term at the White House.

Congress increased the federal subsidies that help people purchase private insurance policies on the Affordable Care Act exchanges during the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal aid was popular, and it boosted ACA enrollment to a record 24 million people. Those enhanced subsidies are set to expire at year’s end.

Republicans say Congress can deal with the health insurance issue in the months ahead. Democrats are fighting to resolve the problem now, as people are receiving notices of higher policy rates for the new year.