It’s time to end the shutdown

Ten days into the government shutdown, both sides are blaming the other, trying to “win” the shutdown even as millions of federal workers and service members and their families lose pay and Americans suffer the harms that come when federal agencies are stripped to the bone or shuttered.

Too many politicians and pundits are purposefully muddying the waters about what’s happened, where we are, and why. Misinformation abounds and straight facts are few and far between.

Let me set the record straight both about where I stand, where we are, and why.

How did we get here?

Funding for the government expired on September 30. The House passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep government funded back on September 19. I voted for it. But when the bill got to the Senate, where it needed 60 votes, Democrats blocked it. So the government shut down.

The Senate has brought the bill up again and again, and three senators who caucus with the Democrats now support it, including Maine’s independent senator, Angus King. That’s progress. But so far, most Senate Democrats are still voting to keep the government shut down.

Why did I vote for the CR when every other House Democrat opposed it?

Shutdowns hurt workers, the poor, small businesses, veterans, and seniors. Next week, members of the military will go without their paycheck. It’s unacceptable that service members who signed up to serve their country are being asked to pay the price for political dysfunction. This is just one example of how the shutdown hurts regular people.

The CR we voted on is “clean” — meaning it contained no substantive changes to federal spending levels or programs. It simply kept spending at levels set in the last budget, enacted under President Biden.

Given the choice between a shutdown and an extension of the last Biden budget, I thought the choice was obvious.

What did the CR do to health care?

This is one of the biggest misconceptions right now. Here’s the truth: The CR contained no health care cuts. None. Zero. But you don’t have to take my word for it. You can read the bill yourself.

That said, it’s true that Republicans have routinely used their majorities to attack Americans’ health care.

I have always fought to protect health care. In the Maine Legislature, I worked to expand Medicaid to cover 70,000 Mainers when almost every Republican opposed it. In Congress, I’ve opposed the GOP’s efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. And I voted against this summer’s GOP megabill — the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” — because it contained the biggest cut to Medicaid in history, along with tax cuts for billionaires and big corporations.

If this CR contained more health care cuts, I’d have opposed it. But it didn’t. Anyone who says it did is lying to you.

What about the ACA Enhanced Premium Tax Credits?

These credits help Americans buy ACA marketplace insurance, but expire in January. Health care costs will spike dramatically for millions of Americans. For some, coverage will become unaffordable and they’ll lose it entirely.

I support extending these credits. That’s why I’m an original co-sponsor on a bipartisan bill to extend them through 2026, preventing coverage losses and price increases in January.

But this has nothing to do with the current shutdown fight.

These tax credits expire in January not because of the “Big Beautiful Bill” or any other legislation passed in this Congress or the last. It was the Inflation Reduction Act — a bill passed entirely by Democrats in 2022 — that mandated their expiration at the end of this year.

Since Republicans need Democratic votes to reopen the government, isn’t this a good way to make them negotiate on health care?

I don’t think so. The GOP was able to pass their megabill — Medicaid cuts, tax breaks for billionaires, and all — because they won the last election and have the numbers to pass their agenda.

Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the story. The tax credits are a live debate. There are Republicans in both chambers who want to extend them. We can win on the merits.

But I don’t believe it’s right to shut down the government — to threaten or cancel the troops’ pay, food assistance for moms and kids, customer service at Social Security, and so much more — over a normal policy debate like health care tax credits.

So what’s really going on?

Last week I said the government shutdown is driven by demands, from some in the Democrats’ base and far-left groups, for the party to visibly “fight” Donald Trump.

While I know this comment upset some, progressives aren’t hiding their intentions. Back in March when Senate Democrats, including Leader Chuck Schumer, voted to keep the government open, progressives in his caucus and in activist circles were furious. Ezra Levin, the leader of Indivisible, called on Schumer to resign. Today, Indivisible and other major progressive groups are mobilizing their members to push Democrats to keep voting against the CR.

Democratic leaders and some progressive activists keep muddying the waters. Despite the fact that it passed in July, listening to party leaders talk about the shutdown, you’d think we were still debating the GOP megabill ahead of a floor vote.

Despite the spin, the truth remains: Voting against it won’t undo the “Big Beautiful Bill” or stop the ACA tax credits from expiring.

It just keeps the government shut down.