Liberal activists are ratcheting up pressure behind the scenes on congressional Democrats to play hardball with Republicans over a looming government shutdown — and party leaders appear to be heeding their call for now.
The progressive group MoveOn urged Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a private letter that they should “hold the line” and withhold their votes to keep the government open unless GOP lawmakers make concessions on health care policy. The memo, sent Monday, was shared first with POLITICO.
It is part of a growing chorus among liberals to exact some concessions from congressional Republicans out of the looming government deadline.
On Thursday, Democrats quietly started to unite around a strategy ahead of the Sept. 30 shutdown deadline, according to one top lawmaker: Any deal with Republicans must include health provisions like the extension of tax credits for the Affordable Care Act that are set to expire later this year.
“Democrats have the leverage to hold the line and refuse support for any funding bill that doesn’t reverse Republicans’ massive health care cuts,” wrote MoveOn’s civic action executive director Katie Bethell in the group’s letter. “Now is the time to use that leverage, and when you do, the grassroots base — including millions of MoveOn members — will have your back.”
On Thursday, Schumer said House and Senate Democrats are in “total agreement” and “what the Republicans are proposing is not good enough for the American people, and not good enough to get our votes.” Jeffries said, “We are together in defense of the health care of the American people.”
Democrats have been tussling for months over the best approach to take on President Donald Trump and the GOP-controlled Congress, and the progressive base has signaled that it wants its leadership to adopt a more aggressive posture. On Sunday, the influential liberal commentator Ezra Klein leaned into a forceful approach, arguing in an essay read by many Democrats on the Hill that the party can either join “Republicans to fund a government that President Trump is turning into a tool of authoritarian takeover and vengeance or shut the government down.”
GOP fiscal hawks are adamantly opposed to extending the ACA insurance subsidies amid concerns about the ballooning deficit, though some Republicans acknowledge a deal may develop later this year. House Ways and Means Republicans debated the controversial topic Wednesday at a “tense” meeting.
Progressives are watching Schumer’s moves closely after another government funding showdown earlier this year. In March, Schumer came under fire from liberal activists and House Democrats when he voted to advance a Republican bill to avoid a shutdown.
At the time, Schumer made the case that it was the best of two bad decisions intended to avoid handing over more power to Trump and his then-special government employee Elon Musk. Schumer’s critics argued that he failed to use the little leverage his party had.
MoveOn staff said that it is looking for Democrats to obtain concessions that would scale back Medicaid changes in Trump’s megabill and extend the ACA insurance subsidies — both liberal policy priorities.
Spokespeople for Schumer and Jeffries’ office declined to comment.
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