Washington, D.C. – Today, Senate Republican Leader John Thune rejected Senate Democrats’ offer to end the Trump-GOP-manufactured health care crisis and government shutdown by simply extending the expiring health care tax credits by one year, calling it a “nonstarter.”
“Clearly, the GOP didn’t learn their lesson after the shellacking they got in Tuesday’s elections,” said Protect Our Care President Brad Woodhouse. “Republicans just rejected a fair deal from Leader Schumer. Why? Because it didn’t screw over people’s health care enough. They would rather keep the government shut down, depriving Americans of their paychecks and food assistance, than let working families keep the health care tax credits they need to afford life-saving coverage. Good luck explaining that to the American people.”
Since assuming office, Trump and Congressional Republicans have wielded their power to launch an unprecedented assault on the health care of everyday Americans. They gutted over $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to fund tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. Now, they are holding the government hostage in the longest shutdown in U.S. history to strip health care tax credits away from over 24 million Americans, doubling, tripling, and quadrupling the premiums of hard-working people. On Tuesday, the American people soundly rejected the Trump-GOP health care crisis in a slew of bellwether elections across the nation. But that’s not stopping the GOP. Thune is continuing the GOP health care betrayal, doubling down on his party’s crusade to make health care and life unaffordable for millions.