Billiejeens
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- Jun 27, 2019
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WashPost: Dems Holding Govt 'Hostage;' End Shutdown Now
The liberal-leaning Washington Post editorial board chastised Senate Democrats on Thursday for holding the federal government "hostage" for a month, urging them to vote for a House-backed stopgap funding bill to end the shutdown.
Most Senate Democrats have voted 13 times against passing a clean continuing resolution (CR) that would continue funding through Nov. 21. They have demanded that Republicans negotiate on extending Affordable Care Act tax subsidies that are set to expire at year's end.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said earlier this month he had offered Democrats a vote on extending ACA subsidies if they agreed to end the shutdown.
"Keeping the government open should be separated from policy disputes about how to spend taxpayer money," the editorial stated.
"It is wrong that Democrats have held the government hostage for a month in hopes of extending costly Obamacare subsidies, just as it was for Sen. Ted Cruz [R-Texas] to shut down the government in 2013 for 16 days in a bid to defund the Affordable Care Act [ACA] altogether."
The editorial said a reason the shutdown has dragged on for so long is that "most Americans have felt no discernible impact on their daily life." But it warned, "That's starting to change."
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The Post accused Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., of allowing the shutdown to drag on because he is worried about fending off a primary challenger in 2028, and said he is still affected by the blowback from "angry liberals" after he agreed to a CR in March.
"Unions, the Washington Post, and federal workers are all calling for Chuck Schumer to do what is right and open up the government," the Senate Republican Conference wrote Thursday on X. "It's time he listened to the American people and not his political strategists."
The calendar could help induce a deal by Nov. 7, as both chambers are scheduled for a recess for Veterans Day.
"The right answer is to reopen the government with a clean funding bill, ideally for a full year, to get food stamps flowing and federal workers back in the office, and then have a debate about ACA subsidies," the editorial stated.
"Democrats openly acknowledge that they refuse to do this because it would mean giving up their leverage. If they persist, it could mean families start to go hungry."
