September 30, 2025 10:35 AM UTC

Republicans Play Weakest Ever Shutdown Blame Game

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Washington Post reports, we’re twelve hours and counting down to another shutdown of the federal government, and President Donald Trump via Republican congressional leadership is showing no sign of concession to Democrats in the U.S. Senate they need to pass a continuing resolution:

Republicans have proposed keeping the government funded at current levels through Nov. 21. Democrats insist they cannot support the GOP legislation until Republicans agree to health care policy changes, which Republicans have rejected as a part of a short-term funding extension.

With a little more than 12 hours before funding expires, the disagreement has left the two parties no path to avoid a shutdown, as each side is holding out hope the other will fold. The Senate is expected to vote again Tuesday afternoon on the GOP-led funding extension. It would need 60 votes to pass, meaning some Democrats would have to back it…

With Democrats showing resolve that broke last spring under similar circumstances, that appears unlikely:

Democrats in both chambers have argued that the Republican tax and spending bill passed in July will raise health care costs for Americans and say they’re unified in using the leverage they have in the Senate to secure changes that will provide relief for Americans.

The key demand for Democrats has been the extension of health insurance premium tax credits that were cut in the “We’re All Going To Die Act” Republican budget bill signed into law last summer. A significant number of Republicans who voted for the budget bill have had remorse over this particular cut that is expected to jack up premiums dramatically on the individual health care market. Colorado’s Rep. Jeff Hurd is the co-sponsor of separate legislation that would do just that for one year–but without the leverage that Democrats are now flexing, the fate of that bill is uncertain at best.

So the fight for the ACA tax credits is happening now, and as CBS4 Denver reports, Republicans who should be helping pass an extension for the sake of their own political skins, like America’s Most Vulnerable Incumbent™ Rep. Gabe Evans, are obliged to lie about Democratic motives and oppose the plainly best interests of their constituents:

Republicans need at least seven Democrats in the Senate to pass a bill and Democrats are using that leverage to get what they want — a permanent extension of health care tax credits and a reversal of Medicaid cuts.

Rep. Gabe Evans, a Republican who represents Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, says that’s not happening.

“If the government shuts down here, it’s going to be the Democrats’ fault because they are the ones that are demanding that Republicans repeal these protections around fraud, waste and abuse and around illegal immigrants getting your taxpayer dollars, and they’re demanding that we get rid of this, and apparently they’re willing to shut the government down over it,” he said.

Just so we’re clear, the Republican contention that Democrats are fighting for “health care for illegal immigrants,” repeated by every one of them from President Donald Trump down to Gabe Evans, is completely false:

The Democrats’ budget proposal seeks to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire at the end of the year, and roll back Medicaid cuts in the tax cut and domestic policy law signed by President Trump in July. But the proposal does not provide free health care for unauthorized immigrants.

Unauthorized immigrants are largely barred from federally funded health care programs. They cannot buy health care plans on government exchanges set up by the Affordable Care Act and therefore cannot receive any subsidies. They are also ineligible for Medicaid, Medicare and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The Democrats’ budget proposal does not make them eligible for these programs.

None of this is to be confused with Colorado’s Omnisalud program, which provides limited state funds to help people buy private insurance regardless of their immigration status. That’s not who Democrats in Washington are holding out for–it’s the thousands of Coloradans who are facing premium hikes of 28% or more as a result of the loss of ACA tax credits, and the tens of thousands of Medicaid patients in Gabe Evans’ district who face new hurdles to coverage intended to ensure some of them lose theirs.

Now that Trump is gleefully threatening to permanently fire thousands of federal workers who would otherwise only be furloughed in this shutdown, any pretense of good faith in these negotiations from the White House has dissipated. It’s now clear that Republicans are not just willing to shut the government down, but are incentivized to do so. Because of their general philosophical propensity for drowning government in the bathtub, Republicans always take the blame with the voters for the economic damage done in shutdowns, despite their insistent attempts to flip that script.

This one will be no different. Democrats are fighting for not just what voters want, but what a lot of Republicans say they want too.

All Republicans have in their corner are lies that get more tired with every repetition.