Democrats waver on whether Obamacare fight justifies shutdown

As the shutdown enters its second month, Democrats sidestepped the question of whether their tough stance on extending Obamacare subsidies was worth keeping federal workers without pay and risking their benefits because of the government shutdown.

Asked by Fox News Digital whether it’s worth continuing the stalemate on Obamacare while federal workers go weeks without pay and benefits fall behind, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Mass., responded: “We have to ask a Republican, because the Republicans agreed to exactly zero negotiations.”

“Donald Trump is touring the world, the Republicans here in the Senate won’t do anything unless Donald Trump tells them to, and the House Republicans are now on their sixth week of paid vacation,” Warren continued. “So, you know, we’d like to sit down and negotiate, but we don’t have Republicans on the other side.”

President Donald Trump began a diplomatic tour of Asia this week, visiting the leaders of several different countries both friendly and hostile to the United States, including South Korea, Japan and China.

GOVERNMENT ENTERS DEEPER INTO CLOSURE CRISIS WITH NO DEAL IN SIGHT

Senator Elizabeth Warren speaks on the fourth and final day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, August 22, 2024. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

House Republicans, meanwhile, are on recess, with Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., indicating the body will remain on recess until the Senate accepts the House-passed continuing budget resolution bill to reopen the government.

When asked the same question, Sen. Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, also placed the blame on Trump, saying, “He has to agree to honor the deal we made; so far we have not been able to convince him to accept. »

“The issue that matters most to me in opening up the government is getting the president to guarantee that if we open it up, he won’t break the deal,” Kaine added. “We have to come to a 30- or 45-day budget deal no matter what, but he has to accept that if you do that, the next day he’s not going to start laying off more people and canceling projects.”

Kaine credited Trump for finding funds to pay U.S. troops, “when the House refused to come back to take on the military payroll bill,” saying, “I think it’s important.”

Yet he also criticized the president, saying, “No one should go hungry, no one should go without pay. President Trump has billions of dollars in a personnel contingency fund that Congress put there for now and he cruelly refuses to use it, and it’s all his fault. »

THUNE AND GOP REJECT “RIFLE-SHOT” GOVERNMENT FUNDING BILLS DURING SHUTDOWN

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, in Washington, from left, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., meanwhile, called Trump’s position “as fabulously immoral as any act ever seen by any president.”

“The funding is there for November, $5.5 billion,” he said. “The president has the authority to distribute these funds… But the president has decided to attack the well-being of America’s children as a bargaining chip.”

Faced with the question, Senator Tina Smith, Democrat of Minnesota, said: “Republicans are giving us two choices: either take away health care from millions of people, or take away food from millions of people and not pay the troops. I don’t think that’s the choice we face.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, Democrat of Nevada, retorted: “You’re talking to the wrong Democratic senator because I voted for the continuing resolution 13 times.”

SENA DEMOCRATS DEFY WHITE HOUSE WARNINGS, AGAIN BLOCKING GOP BID TO REOPEN GOVERNMENT

The Capitol is seen from the National Mall in Washington, DC, Friday, August 9, 2024. (Aaron Schwartz/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Asked further why more Democratic senators haven’t followed suit, Cortez-Masto said, “You need to talk to my colleagues.”

Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, Democrat of Maryland, also framed the issue as one of affordability, saying, “Republicans in the House haven’t gone to work in six weeks. So this shows how callous and uncaring they are. They need to reopen this government immediately.

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“We must also be careful not to inflict additional pain. We have inflicted so much pain on working-class Americans who not only can’t afford insurance and health care, but they can no longer afford groceries,” she said, adding, “This administration is bankrupting our economy and our families are suffering every day.”

Alsobrooks noted, “I’ve voted eight times to reopen the government and, you know what, Republicans need to come to the table and negotiate something that allows us to both reopen this government and make sure that we guarantee that Americans are able to afford health care coverage.” »