The US Government has shut down for the first time since 2018 after a majority of Democrat senators refused to support Republican legislation that research suggests would result in higher healthcare premiums for millions of Americans.
The vote on H.R. 5371 bill, a piece of legislation designed to extend government funding through December, received a 55-45 vote in the US Senate, short of the 60 votes needed to assure its advancement.
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Several Democrats voted in favour of the bill, with Nevada senator Catherine Cortez Masto explaining that she did so to “preserve the right to reconsider the vote” and “keep the door open to negotiations that protect healthcare and avoid chaos”. However, the majority of Democrats voted the bill down, given a range of controversial healthcare exclusions contained within.
Sticking points of H.R. 5371 for many Democrats in the Senate include the bill’s preservation of reductions to Medicaid that were part of Trump’s earlier “Big, Beautiful Bill” and the exclusion of any guarantees that would protect medical research or public health funding.
A particularly contentious element of the bill is that it does not include Democrats’ demands for $350bn in funding towards expanding Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies. Due to expire at the end of this year, the subsidies support around 22 million low-income and middle-income American families’ ability to afford health insurance through ACA marketplaces.
The ACA was signed into law by President Obama in 2010 and offered premium tax credits for low-income families. More recently, the subsidies were expanded through 2025 by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
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By GlobalDataAccording to apolitical healthcare policy thinktank KFF, payments will more than double from $888 in 2025 to $1,904 on average annually in 2026 for ACA enrolees who receive subsidies if the initiative is discontinued.
Following the shutdown, Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said: “Republicans are plunging America into a shutdown – rejecting bipartisan talks, pushing a partisan bill, and risking America’s healthcare, worst of all.
“They’ve got to sit down and negotiate with Democrats to come to a bill that both parties can support.”
Posting to X, US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said: “Republicans are jacking up healthcare costs across the country and Trump is FAR weaker than he looks.
“The GOP knows their popularity is tanking as the American people turn on their extremism. We now have a chance to defend the healthcare of millions of Americans. Let’s take it.”
Many Republicans believe that the sticking points around healthcare should be negotiated separately, with Republican House speaker Mike Johnson claiming that H.R. 5371 was a “clean and responsible” bill that Democrats were attaching unrelated demands to.
Trump equated the Democrats’ funding demands to providing “free healthcare to illegal aliens” that would shore up the party’s voting bloc – a sentiment Trump expressed by posting an AI-generated video of Chuck Schumer voicing the dubious claims on Truth Social, Trump’s social media platform.
