MIL USHOR-2b Engine

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (8th District of New York)

Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront where he highlighted how Democrats are prepared to reach a bipartisan spending agreement that meets the needs of the American people while Republicans continue to keep the government shut down to steal healthcare away from hardworking American taxpayers.

ERIN BURNETT: President Trump’s top economic adviser is now warning Democrats about dire consequences if they do not give in.

VIDEO OF KEVIN HASSETT: If they don’t open the government next week, I really don’t know how long it’s going to take. Maybe the Republicans are going to have to take extreme measures. We could stop virtually anything that we want other than defense and so on and national security matters. The President can pick the Democrats’ favorite things and stop them forever, legally.

ERIN BURNETT: Stop them forever legally. Out front now, the House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries.

ERIN BURNETT: So Leader Jeffries, you hear Kevin Hassett. He says that the President can can stop, legally, Democratic favored issues and programs indefinitely, and he can do it legally. Are you worried he’s right?

LEADER JEFFRIES: I have no idea who this random individual is and his comments are deeply unhinged but reflect the fact that for the longest period of time Donald Trump and Republicans want to go after things like Social Security and Medicare and certainly the healthcare of the American people, but we’re seeing that right now. This is day 20 of the Trump-Republican shutdown, and the government remains closed because Republicans have zero interest in actually providing affordable healthcare to everyday Americans. That’s the challenge that the country faces right now.

ERIN BURNETT: So Kevin Hassett is the top economic adviser for the President. So I guess he’s speaking from that capacity. But he says the shutdown can end next week if Democrats cave and vote on the GOP bill, right? That’s what he’s saying. But when it comes to that, it was the Republican Senator, Leader Jeffries, John Kennedy, who said, and I quote him, I think this will be the longest shutdown in the history of ever, which would put it well past Thanksgiving. Do you think that’s what we’re looking at here?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, our view is that we as Democrats, in both the House and the Senate, Leader Schumer has been clear that we’ll sit down with anyone, any time, any place, either here at the Capitol or back at the the White House in order to reopen the government, find a path toward a bipartisan spending agreement, but that agreement actually needs to meet the needs of the American people and improve the quality of life of everyday Americans, while at the same time decisively addressing the healthcare crisis that Republicans have created. Erin, we’re talking about the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. hospitals, nursing homes and community-based health clinics are closing all across America. Just earlier today, it was announced that more than 50 hospitals in rural Alabama are at risk of closing because of what Republicans have done in their One Big Ugly Bill. And now, as a result of the Republican refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, we know that tens of millions of Americans are about to experience dramatically increased premiums, co-pays and deductibles, including in places like West Virginia, Wyoming, Alaska, Mississippi and Tennessee.

ERIN BURNETT: Well, you know, when you talk about that, and those premiums are set to go up, it all came in the context of the protests we saw this weekend, which, of course, Leader, as you know, are some of the biggest in American history. And as that was happening, the President went on social media and he posted that AI-generated video which showed him with a crown, flying in a plane, bombing the No Kings protesters with piles of waste. It’s a family program. I’ll use that word. House Speaker Mike Johnson says that it’s just Trump using social media and satire—satire is the word that he used—to make a point. How do you see it?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, that video is deeply unserious, deeply unpresidential and deeply un-American, but unfortunately, it’s the type of erratic, extreme behavior that the American people have continued to see from this President and from this administration from the very beginning. And of course, it’s no surprise to us that House Republicans continue to behave as nothing more than reckless rubber-stamps for Donald Trump’s extreme agenda that’s hurting the American people, and of course, for his extreme behavior that they continue to whitewash.

ERIN BURNETT: Speaker Johnson today did point something out about the No Kings protests. Obviously, as I said, millions across the country over the weekend, biggest in history, and there were full of lots of harmless signs, right? I had—so many of them I saw on social media. IKEA has better cabinets. No Kings, only queens. You know, ladies in their 80s, for democracy. Tons of these things. People showed up wearing inflatable costumes like chickens. But Speaker Johnson said this about some of the other protesters and signs that he also saw. Here he is.

VIDEO OF SPEAKER JOHNSON: He is not calling for the murder of his political opponents, and that’s what these people are doing. I mean, they’re—in one of these photos, I think there’s a picture of the President hanging in effigy by a noose on one of these, the one on the far end. I mean, it’s unconscionable.

ERIN BURNETT: And Leader Jeffries, just because the camera’s on him there, I’ll show everyone some of the signs Johnson was standing next to to make that point. One says 8647, another included the effigy that he just referenced with the initials DJT, another one saying the only good fascist is a dead one. Do you agree with Speaker Johnson on the specific point, Leader Jeffries, that that rhetoric and those images are unconscionable?

LEADER JEFFRIES: We’ve made clear throughout the year that political violence or threats of violence, wherever they may come from, directed at anyone based on their ideology, is unacceptable, and I’m certainly hopeful that my Republican colleagues and that the current President of the United States, at some point, will actually lean into that principle, that we need to bring people together, as opposed to behaving in ways that are continuing to tear the country apart. And so, Democrats have been clear that we denounce political violence or threats of it, wherever that may come from. But what was clear to me, more than 7 million Americans, the overwhelming majority of people were there to protest peacefully, patriotically and in a very powerful way, to express dissent in a manner entirely consistent with the First Amendment, where Americans have the ability to petition their government for a change in direction, and certainly in this year, in this presidency, we have seen Donald Trump unleash unprecedented extremism—attacks on the economy, on healthcare, on nutritional assistance, on hard working federal employees, on veterans, on farmers, on law-abiding immigrant families, on the American way of life and on democracy itself, and that is why millions of people peacefully took to the streets on No Kings Day.

ERIN BURNETT: All right, Leader. Thank you very much. Leader Hakeem Jeffries, I appreciate your time.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you.

Full interview can be watched here.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Diana DeGette (First District of Colorado)

DENVER, CO — Yesterday, Congresswoman Diana DeGette (CO-01), Colorado Insurance Commissioner Michael Conway, and Connect for Health Colorado CEO Kevin Patterson held a press conference to discuss how Congressional Republicans failing to renew Affordable Care Act premium tax credits will drive up health care costs for hundreds of thousands of Coloradans. 

“We are facing a Republican-forced health care crisis because Donald Trump and my colleagues in Congress refuse to work with Democrats to extend vital ACA tax credits for hardworking Americans,” said DeGette. “They had no problem forcing through an extension of tax cuts for billionaires, but helping everyday Coloradans afford health care is apparently too much for them. Republicans need to come back to Washington to stop health care costs from skyrocketing. I am grateful to Commissioner Conway and Kevin Patterson for their work to support and protect health care for Colorado families.” 

“I want to thank Congresswoman DeGette and the members of the Colorado congressional delegation who are pushing for Congress to extend the enhanced premium tax credits (EPTCs) that expire at the end of the year. As insurance commissioners across the country have been saying all year, without these subsidies, people enrolled in the ACA will receive catastrophic premium increases. These increases will lead to devastating choices like whether to buy groceries or maintain access to health care. In Colorado, we expect tens of thousands of people to lose coverage and access to healthcare. Congress needs to do the right thing and extend EPTCs as soon as possible,” said Colorado Insurance Commissioner Michael Conway. 

“It’s not too late for Congress to extend enhanced Premium Tax Credits for our customers. Connect for Health Colorado stands ready to act. Our team is prepared to work as quickly as possible to ensure the customers we serve have reliable, high quality and affordable health insurance,” said Kevin Patterson, Connect for Health Colorado CEO.

The Affordable Care Act established premium tax credits (PTCs) to help lower premiums for low-income Americans for qualified health plans offered through health insurance exchanges. The American Rescue Plan Act began enhanced premium tax credits (EPTCs) to provide larger subsidies to a greater number of households by increasing support for low- and middle-income Americans and limiting premiums to a percentage of income for all Americans. Nearly 20 million Americans received premium tax credits in 2024.
 
Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans have so far refused to extend EPTCs, which expire in December 2025. If Republicans allow EPTCs to expire, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates 4.5 million people will lose their health insurance and millions will see their premiums increase drastically. 

The full press conference can be viewed here. 

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (7th District of Washington)

Washington, D.C. (October 21, 2025)—Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, sent a letter renewing their demand for answers from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regarding their continuing and escalating wrongful arrest and detainment of U.S. citizens. The Administration has failed to address the Committee’s concerns, even in light of worsening abuses.

“Why do you continue unlawfully detaining U.S. citizens? In February 2025, we wrote to express our serious concerns that U.S. citizens were being wrongfully detained during immigration enforcement operations. Unfortunately, your response was flippant and unserious. Rather than address the specific questions we posed, you simply reiterated existing policy—without providing any assurance that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel are actually following that policy. DHS and ICE are doing nothing to acknowledge or protect the fundamental rights of U.S. citizens during immigration raids,” wrote the Ranking Members.

ICE policy explicitly prohibits the detainment of U.S. citizens when conducting immigration enforcement and requires that any U.S. citizenship claims by detainees be promptly and carefully investigated. Yet, DHS and ICE continue to wrongfully detain U.S. citizens—sometimes with violent force—while failing to investigate these cases with the urgency and care required.

Since the Administration’s response to Judiciary Democrats’ February letter, which contained empty assurances that “ICE has significant protections in place to ensure U.S. citizens are not mistakenly arrested, detained, or removed,” the Administration has wrongfully detained a growing number of U.S. citizens. For example, in Chicago, Rodrick Johnson, a 67-year-old U.S. citizen, was detained during an immigration raid on an apartment building. His door was broken down, and he was dragged out in zip ties and left tied up outside the building for nearly three hours. Another U.S. citizen, Leonardo Garcia Venegas, was detained by ICE twice during worksite raids in Alabama. Agents refused to release him even after he produced his REAL ID.

In the wake of these unlawful detainments, the Ranking Members renewed their demand for details on each incident where a U.S. citizen was detained during immigration enforcement activities since the start of the Trump Administration, as well as information on the policies ICE currently has in place to prevent the wrongful detention of U.S. citizens.

Click here to read the letter.

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Issues: Civil Rights, Immigration

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Ron Estes (R-Kansas)

Estes Affirms National Deficit Decrease, Highlights Further Need for Fiscal Sanity in Government

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Scott Peters (52nd District of California)

What They Are Saying: SPEED and Reliability Act

Washington, DC – On September 25, 2025, Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA-50) and Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY-06) introduced the Streamlining Powerlines Essential to Electric Demand (SPEED) and Reliability Act.  

““Modernizing the nation’s electricity grid is critical to enabling the U.S. to continue leading in the 21st-century economy. Unfortunately, transmission and generation constraints across the country are restricting economic growth, including the development of the U.S. data center industry, which is seeking to continue investing hundreds of billions of dollars in the U.S. annually to build America’s digital infrastructure. The SPEED and Reliability Act, co-sponsored by Representative Scott Peters (D-CA) and Representative Andy Barr (R-KY), provides a bipartisan framework to help alleviate unnecessary delays in infrastructure development that risk economic growth. For too long, Washington has delayed advancing durable and meaningful permitting reform, but the time to act is now. Increasingly, we’re seeing strong evidence that other countries, including China, have developed sufficient power infrastructure to quickly scale their digital infrastructure and AI capabilities. This would have concerning implications for U.S. national security and future global economic leadership. In short, we risk being left behind. Comprehensive permitting reform is a must-have for America’s continued global leadership. We look forward to working with Congress to advance these critical reforms.” – Data Center Coalition

“BPC Action commends Reps. Scott Peters (D-CA) and Andy Barr (R-KY) for their leadership on the Speed and Reliability Act, a commonsense bill that will expedite the siting and permitting of interregional transmission lines.  Building out a reliable electric grid is essential to meet our skyrocketing energy demand and ensure energy affordability. We look forward to working with Congress on comprehensive permitting reform.” – Michele Stockwell, President, Bipartisan Policy Center Action (BPC Action)  

“Building long-distance transmission lines is essential to meet rising power demand, support the energy transition, and address surging electric bills, but some permitting processes can delay or stymie projects. This bipartisan legislation would be a crucial step toward getting much-needed power lines built in an efficient and responsible manner.”– Talia Calnek-Sugin, Senior Policy Advocate, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

“Energy demand is skyrocketing, prices are surging, and we are in the midst of the AI race. At a time when we need to move more electricity to ensure reliable and affordable power for Americans, complex permitting systems are holding us back. Transmission must be included in any permitting reform package, and the American Conservation Coalition Action and our thousands of members across the country commend this bipartisan proposal to streamline permitting for critical transmission projects and bolster our nation’s grid.” – Chris Barnard, President, American Conservation Coalition Action 

“The SPEED and Reliability Act would give America the nationally coordinated tools needed to build big at a time when defense-critical facilities such as data centers and heavy manufacturing are urgently seeking reliable power. We thank Representatives Peters and Barr for their leadership and look forward to working with them and their colleagues to enact bold reforms to meet the demands of the 21st Century.” – Avery Ash, Senior Vice President for Government Affairs, Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE) 

“The large industrial sector supports the goals of this bipartisan bill addressing electric transmission, a testament to effective collaboration aimed at enhancing the grid’s reliability and affordability. This crucial legislation helps cut through permitting bottlenecks, positioning the United States to re-energize domestic manufacturing, lead the AI race, and stimulate broad economic growth in the energy and manufacturing sectors.” – Karen Onaran, President and CEO, Electricity Consumers Resource Council 

“We need to get more clean, reliable, cheap energy onto our grid, and we need the transmission to get it to people’s homes. Families are paying too much for their electric bill each month, and extreme weather is causing more frequent blackouts. The SPEED and Reliability Act will supply more electricity to our homes, prevent blackouts during intense storms and cut costs for consumers. This proposal finds important common ground, and we look forward to working with the bill’s authors to identify more robust community engagement measures.” – Joanna Slaney, Vice President for Political and Government Affairs, Environmental Defense Fund 

“Amid soaring load growth and rising costs, the SPEED and Reliability Act would provide the tools to build the reliable, affordable grid America needs.” – Thomas Hochman, Director of Infrastructure Policy, Foundation for American Innovation 

“The SPEED and Reliability Act makes clear that leaders on both sides of the aisle recognize the essential role transmission plays in delivering reliable and affordable power to communities nationwide. I commend the sponsors for advancing legislation that cuts red tape and clarifies FERC’s authority over nationally significant lines.” – Liza Reed, Director of Climate and Energy, Niskanen Center 

“Our outdated permitting policies are hindering the ability to enhance our grid, causing the U.S. to lose investment, risk reliable power delivery to homes and businesses, burden families with rising bills, and fall behind. Energy politization is threatening American competitiveness and harming consumers. Building transmission infrastructure to power a modern economy deserves broad bipartisan support. This bill is a step in the right direction.” – Frank Macchiarola, Chief Advocacy Officer, American Clean Power Association (ACP) 

“To power our AI-driven future and grow American manufacturing, we need to significantly grow the grid. The ability to move that new electricity generated to consumers requires a dramatically more efficient process. We commend the bipartisan efforts by Reps. Barr (R-KY) and Peters (D-CA) for introducing this proposal as permitting reform discussions progress in Congress.” – Jeremy Harrell, CEO, ClearPath Action. 
 
“It is inexcusably difficult to plan and build regional transmission today. The R Street Institute applauds this bipartisan effort to reform unworkable statutory schemes and reduce planning and permitting barriers, improving reliability while minimizing costs.” – Kent Chandler, Resident Senior Fellow in Energy and Environmental Policy, R Street Institute. 

“Efficient transmission buildout and improved load forecasting are essential for providing customers with affordable and reliable power. Today, transmission lines needed to deliver power to customers often face duplicative reviews and a regulatory system that rewards inefficient development and suppresses efficient development. We appreciate Congress’s continued work to make it easier to scale up new industries while keeping costs low for all customers and look forward to working with all Members of Congress on these important issues.” – Jeff Dennis, Executive Director, Electricity Customer Alliance 

“It takes a lot of energy to be a mom.  And these days it seems like we all demand more energy than ever. So we light up when we hear good news from lawmakers: a pragmatic, solutions-oriented bipartisan bill to get more clean electricity quickly and reliably to the places that need it most: our communities, our neighborhoods, our schools, and our homes. The SPEED and Reliability Act would cut through unnecessary delays in building out the electricity superhighway of the future—one all families need right now. Moms expect that lawmakers will find ways to listen to what communities need and want, too, as they create better ways to light up and power our lives—and protect our children’s futures.” – Dominique Browning, Director and Co-Founder, Moms Clean Air Force 

To learn more about the SPEED and Reliability Act, click here. 

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Scott Peters (52nd District of California)

Washington, DC – Yesterday, Representatives Scott Peters (CA-50) and Bill Huizenga (MI-04) introduced the bipartisan No Budget, No Pay Act to prevent Congress from getting paid unless it does its job and passes a budget on time.

The federal government is currently shutdown, but dysfunction isn’t new to Washington, DC. Since the last major overhaul of federal budgeting and spending laws in 1974, Congress has only passed a budget resolution and all the accompanying spending bills on time once.

California also had a history of budget gridlock. Every year, our state legislature is required to pass a budget by June 15th. The governor must then sign or issue a veto by June 27th before the beginning of the Fiscal Year on July 1st. California only passed a budget before the start of the fiscal year 10 times in the 30 years before the state implemented its own No Budget, No Pay law. 

Putting their own pay on the line lit a fire under state lawmakers. The result: California’s budget has been signed on time every year.

“Our most important responsibility is the power of the purse, but Congress has again failed to do its job.” Congressman Peters said. “No Budget, No Pay will stop Members of Congress from getting paid unless they get a budget done on time. When the government shuts down, countless Americans are forced to endure the consequences. That’s why, each week for the duration of the shutdown, I am donating my take-home salary to local nonprofits working to support San Diegans who are suffering because of the shutdown.”

Last week, Rep. Peters donated the equivalent of one week’s worth of take-home pay to a non-profit that supports enlisted servicemembers.

“Addressing our challenging fiscal situation will be difficult unless policymakers do the hard work of budgeting,” said Zach Moller, Director of the Economic Program at Third Way. “The No Budget, No Pay Act led by Representatives Scott Peters (D-CA) and Bill Huizenga (R-MI), presents a way for Congress to focus on this essential task. Ideas like this need to be in the mix as we try to both break out of a government shutdown and consider improvements to the budget and appropriations process.”

“No Budget, No Pay is a much-needed enforcement mechanism to ensure that Congress is doing its job and passing the federal budget on time – something that has not occurred since 1996. We are also deeply appreciative of the bipartisan leadership shown by Representatives Huizenga and Peters to introduce this and other bills,” said Carolyn Bordeaux, Executive Director of the Concord Coalition. “This legislation, paired with their bipartisan Fiscal Commission Act, could help this country make significant strides towards a budget process that is on time and on target to close the deficit. We urge all Members of Congress to support these bills and move them swiftly to the floor and to the President’s desk.”

The bill text can be found here. 

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (8th District of New York)

Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries held a press conference where he pointed out that House and Senate Democrats position remain unified while Donald Trump and extreme MAGA Republicans continue to be missing in action in terms of making life better for the American people.

LEADER JEFFRIES: This is Day 20 of the Trump-Republican shutdown and Republicans have shown zero interest in reopening the government, enacting a bipartisan spending agreement that actually is designed to make life better for the American people and address the healthcare crisis that Republicans have created that is devastating people all across America. Our position as Democrats remains clear in the House and in the Senate. We need to reopen the government, and we need to do that now. We need to find a bipartisan path toward enacting a spending agreement that actually is designed to make life better for the American people, as opposed to hurting everyday Americans. And we need to decisively address the Republican healthcare crisis that is crushing people all across the country—working-class America, rural America, urban America, the heartland of America, small town America and Black and brown communities all across America. 

The Republican healthcare crisis, as Marjorie Taylor Greene has repeatedly indicated, is real and it’s having devastating impacts that are becoming increasingly apparent to the American people. In Idaho, 100,000 Americans are at risk of losing their healthcare if the Affordable Care Act tax credits expire because it will become unaffordable for them. In Georgia, Virginia and Maryland, people are now finding out that their health insurance premiums are about to increase, in some instances by more than $2,000 per month for a total of $24,000 per year. No one can afford those types of increases. In Alabama, it’s now clear that at least 50 rural hospitals are at risk of closing because of what Republicans have done in devastating Medicaid in their One Big Ugly Bill. The Republican healthcare crisis is real. And every day that passes by without action, it gets even worse for hardworking American taxpayers. 

Full press availability can be watched here.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mike Johnson (LA-04)

WASHINGTON — Today, The Hill published a news story which exposed the Democrats fear of their Far-Left base as their motive for continuously voting to keep the government closed.

“’People are going to get hammered’ if they vote for the House-passed bill to reopen the government and keep it funded through Nov. 21, said one Democratic senator who requested anonymity to talk candidly about their party,” The Hill wrote.

“A second person familiar with the political dynamics within the Senate Democratic caucus, who spoke with The Hill ahead of the ‘No Kings’ protests, said centrist senators are fearful of breaking with leaders while party activists are planning the anti-Trump rallies,” The Hill story continues. “‘We would have enough votes’ to reopen the government ‘if people were not terrified of getting the guillotine,’ the second person said.”

Read the full story here or below:

Some Democrats skeptical about their leadership’s hard-line stance against reopening the federal government privately acknowledge that they fear getting “hammered” by their liberal base if they vote for a Republican funding bill.

Grassroots Democrats frustrated with the Trump administration have been demanding a fight, and on Saturday millions showed up at “No Kings” demonstrations across the country to protest the president’s government.

In that context, Democrats know they will get hit hard by a number of voices on the left if they do not get something for opening the government.

“People are going to get hammered” if they vote for the House-passed bill to reopen the government and keep it funded through Nov. 21, said one Democratic senator who requested anonymity to talk candidly about their party.

A second person familiar with the political dynamics within the Senate Democratic caucus, who spoke with The Hill ahead of the “No Kings” protests, said centrist senators are fearful of breaking with leaders while party activists are planning the anti-Trump rallies.

“We would have enough votes” to reopen the government “if people were not terrified of getting the guillotine,” the second person said.

Only three members of the Democratic caucus have voted to reopen the government: Sens. John Fetterman (Pa.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.) and Angus King (Maine), an Independent who caucuses with Democrats.

On Thursday, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.) became the fourth Democrat to signal unease with the party’s staunch opposition to what in normal times would be relatively uncontroversial funding bills when she voted Thursday to advance an $852 billion defense funding bill.

Liberal activists called the votes to fund the Department of Defense and to reopen the government without Republican concessions on health care “baffling” and a “mistake.”

“Sens. Shaheen, Cortez Masto, and Fetterman voting with Republicans today is baffling,” said Andrew O’Neill, the national advocacy director at Indivisible, a progressive group.

“This was not a good faith effort from Republicans to end the shutdown with bipartisan negotiations,” he added. “It was GOP political theater, and these three Democrats joined right in.”

Fetterman pushed back against that criticism and defended his vote for the defense spending bill as motivated by concern for military families who might have to rely on food banks if they stop getting paychecks.

“I voted yes to pay our service members. That’s service members over party. That’s not baffling to me,” he said.

All of this is music to the ears of Republicans, who want centrist Democrats to feel the pain.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) plans to keep holding votes on a House-passed continuing resolution, hoping to pick up at least five more Democratic votes so the government can reopen.

Democratic senators acknowledge a handful of their colleagues would love to end the tense standoff over federal funding, but they say those members are worried a liberal backlash could end their political careers.

“Are there enough Democrats to join Republicans to reopen the government? Not in the near term,” said the Democratic senator who requested anonymity. “There is no bipartisan conversation that’s anything but bulls   .”

The senator said centrist Democratic colleagues would vote to open the government “yesterday” if left to their own devices but don’t want to risk an angry backlash from the base.

Emma Lydon, the managing director of P Street, the government relations sister organization of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said Democrats who vote for the House-passed short-term funding bill are making a “mistake.”

She said voting to reopen the government when millions of Americans are projected to lose their health insurance due to rising premiums “would be out of step with what the American people want.”

“What Republicans are trying to do is dismantle the ACA brick by brick,” she said, referring to the Affordable Care Act.

Lydon said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and the nine other Senate Democrats who voted for a partisan House-passed government funding bill in March in order to avoid a shutdown made a “mistake.”

“It’s been clear to them that the American people don’t want to see a Democratic Party that capitulates to Republican extremism. They want a party that stands up for people’s health care, that stands up for our democracy and that’s what they’re doing now,” she said.

Democratic strategists say the main driver of the political fear within the Democratic caucus is online fundraising, which is largely driven by social media.

Sources familiar with the political motivations driving the Senate Democrats’ shutdown stance point to Sen. Jon Ossoff (Ga.), who is the most vulnerable Senate Democrat up for reelection in 2026, as an example of the dilemma facing Democrats.

One Democratic insider argued that Ossoff, who represents a swing state that voted for President Trump in 2024, needs to raise money from the liberal base to win.

“His calculus is, ‘Do I vote to open the government up and get crushed and can’t raise a single dollar of low-dollar money or do I vote to shut the government down and get $3 million [from online fundraising]?’” the source argued. 

Ossoff has voted 10 times against the House-passed funding bill and voted on Thursday against advancing bipartisan bill to fund the Department of Defense.

The first-term Democratic senator said he’s always ready to work across the aisle to solve problems and blamed House Republicans for being on recess since late September to avoid potential negotiations on rising health care costs.

“We need a bipartisan solution that prevents health insurance premiums from doubling and reopens the government. My constituents don’t want health care costs to go up by thousands of dollars and they want the federal government open,” he told The Hill earlier this month.

Democrats said they opposed the defense appropriations bill because Republicans could not assure them it would move in tandem with the Labor and Health and Human Services appropriations bill, which funds many of their nondefense priorities.

Yet, some centrist Democrats are growing impatient with the impasse as they are forced to vote repeatedly on a House-passed clean continuing resolution while leaders in both parties have yet to even meet to address rising health care costs.

“I don’t think the leadership is talking to each other and I don’t see how we get a deal unless the people in charge decide they’re going to sit down and negotiate,” she said. “People in the rank-and-file are doing a lot of talking. It would be nice if our leaders were also talking.”

A source familiar with internal Democratic caucus dynamics said Shaheen’s vote to advance the defense bill Thursday was a signal to Republican colleagues that she’s open to reaching a deal to reopen the government, even though she has voted 10 times against the House-passed continuing resolution.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Salud Carbajal (CA-24)

Carbajal Statement on DHS Secretary Noem Purchasing Luxury Private Jets During a Government Shutdown