Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) said Wednesday he thinks Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) would engage in “sincere” talks about extending the enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits once the government reopens.
Fetterman — who came out on Tuesday in favor of the GOP “nuking” the Senate filibuster to pass a bill to reopen the government — said it’s important for senators simultaneously to prioritize funding the government while pushing for the health care subsidies at the center of the ongoing shutdown standoff.
“Two things must be true at this time: Keeping the government open is our core responsibility as a senator — I mean, that must be open — and then we would negotiate to extend those tax credits,” Fetterman told Cory Smith and Hillary Howard on “Sunrise on the Hill” on Wednesday.
“I do believe that Majority Leader Thune is an honorable guy, and I do believe we could have a sincere conversation about that,” Fetterman said, referring to talks about extending enhanced ACA subsidies.
“And I also, I do support my own leader, Schumer, in this conversation as well, too,” he added, referring to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
The so-called nuclear option would let Senate Republicans pass a House-passed funding measure with a simply-majority vote, rather than the 60-vote threshold generally needed to get legislation in the upper chamber to the president’s desk.
The Democrats are largely withholding their support for the GOP funding proposal, insisting on first extending the ACA subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of the year, increasing health insurance premiums for millions of Americans.
Many Democrats have expressed concern that merely agreeing to hold a vote on the subsidies after the government reopens is not enough to ensure Republicans follow through on their word to engage in good-faith negotiations over extending the subsidies.
But Fetterman said he thinks Republicans want a solution to the expiring subsidies for their constituents as well.
“I do believe many, many of their constituents are going to be impacted by the premiums. And I do believe many of them, or at least enough of them, are going to be willing to figure out a way to fix this,” Fetterman said.
A group of front-line House Republicans on Tuesday called on Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to “immediately” address the expiring enhanced ObamaCare tax credits — once the government shutdown ends.
An analysis by health policy nonprofit KFF found that most ACA marketplace enrollees, 77 percent, or 18.7 million of the 24.3 million enrollees, live in states won by President Trump in the 2024 election. These states received more premium tax credits and saw more enrollment growth than others.
A KFF survey found that 78 percent of adults said they think Congress should extend the enhanced tax credits for the ACA marketplace. This included 92 percent of Democrats, 82 percent of independents and 59 percent of Republicans.
