Democratic Leader Jeffries Compels Republican Speaker Johnson to Act

By Mary Alice Miller
House Speaker Mike Johnson announced in a press conference on Monday that House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (both from Louisiana) is working to craft a Republican health care plan with the chairs of three House committees. The committees with jurisdiction over health care plans are Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Workforce.

Johnson’s stance since the shutdown began on October 1 is that he only approves of a ‘clean’ continuing spending bill. But, forces beyond his control may have convinced him otherwise.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries held a phone town hall attended by more than 9,000 people.

Referring to Republicans in the House and Senate, Jeffries said, “They would rather keep the government closed than provide affordable health care for the American people. The Democratic position is firm and clear: we want to reopen the government and believe it needs to be done immediately. We want to enact a spending agreement that is bipartisan. But it has to be an agreement that makes life better for the American people.”

Jeffries said, “It is critical that we address the Republican health care crisis which includes the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. The Republican refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, which means many of the people that I am privileged to represent are going to experience dramatically increased premiums, co-pays, and deductibles which is unaffordable for so many.”

“Remember,” Jeffries said, “Donald Trump in late January of this year promised to ‘love and cherish’ Medicaid. Then Republicans passed their One Big Ugly Bill and cut Medicaid by almost a trillion dollars and as a result perhaps a million people in New York are at risk of losing their health insurance. Because of what Republicans have done. There are hospitals and nursing homes and community based health centers and home care services that are also at risk because of this cut.”

Jeffries made a point to state that included in the Democratic spending bill is a reversal of Medicaid cuts “so that people all across the country – more than 14 million people – don’t lose their health insurance because of devastating cuts to Medicaid that Republicans put in their One Big Ugly bill.”

“We are fighting for everyone,” said Jeffries, “because hospitals, nursing homes, and community based health centers and Medicaid recipients are found everywhere.”
One week after the shutdown began firebrand Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from Georgia said she is “disgusted” at the possibility of Affordable Care Act insurance premiums doubling if government subsidies are allowed to expire.

Greene wrote on X “I’m going against everyone on this issue because when the tax credits expire this year my own adult children’s insurance premiums for 2026 are going to DOUBLE, along with all the wonderful families and hard-working people in my district.”
Polling suggests the shutdown is a liability, with more Americans blaming Republicans than Democrats, especially in the lead up to next year’s midterm elections.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 50% of respondents blame Republicans and 43% blame Democrats. And a recent Quinnipiac poll found that Democrats in Congress have boosted their approval rating among Democratic voters to 58%, up from 39% in July.

It’s been a month since the federal government shut down. Republicans wanted a ‘clean’ bill with enhanced security for federal elected representatives. Democrats want an extension of ObamaCare subsidies scheduled to expire at the end of the year and a reversal of cuts to Medicaid.

The Senate needs 60 votes to pass the House Republican ‘clean’ bill but Democrats have stood firm in their insistence that health care funding be included, refusing to join Republicans to pass the bill. Despite almost a dozen votes held, neither the Rupublican nor Democrat bills have passed.

Looming in the November 1 open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act. Without the subsidies, millions of people will see their health insurance costs double.

In addition, as long as the shutdown holds, SNAP (Food Stamp) benefits will not be funded commencing November 1. On Monday, recipients received a text message stating “November SNAP Benefits may be delayed due to the federal shutdown.” The New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance website states “SNAP benefits cannot be issued for November unless federal funding is authorized.”

Federal housing subsidies are also impacted. The Department of Housing and Urban Development, which directly funds public housing authorities under Section 9, will likely run out of money after November payments are issued unless a spending bill is passed.
Section 8 rental assistance subsidies are funded until the end of the year.

NYCHA, which administers the nation’s largest Section 8 program, receives around $200 million per month in federal funding. HUD provides $100 million per month for NYCHA’s operating budget, about two-thirds of its total operating budget. Across the five boroughs, about 96,000 people are covered.

HUD also provides $55 million per month for smaller Section 8 developments that cover about 36,000 households.
Add the 1.4 million civilian federal employees who missed a paycheck last Friday due to the shutdown. About half of those employees have been furloughed, while the other half are deemed essential and must continue to work without a pay check.