House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark speaks during a press conference as the government shutdown continues in Washington, Oct. 1, 2025. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The government ran out of funding on Oct. 1 after lawmakers failed to reach an agreement on spending legislation for 2026, plunging the country into a shutdown that has gone on for 16 days. Democrats in Congress have made it clear they won’t support any funding package to reopen the government that doesn’t also include an extension of COVID-era Obamacare subsidies.
Those subsidies, which dramatically extended the pool of eligible applicants for enhanced premium tax credits as a part of the 2021 American Rescue Plan, are set to expire at the end of 2025. Several lawmakers from both parties have expressed alarm that letting them expire would leave millions of Obamacare policyholders — who took advantage of that extended eligibility — suddenly stuck with dramatically higher premiums overnight.
HOUSE DEMOCRATS THREATEN SHUTDOWN FIGHT TO PROTECT OBAMACARE PERKS
Open enrollment for the enhanced premium tax credits is set to start at the beginning of next month.
"We are watching a crisis come at us," Clark said. "And this is the crisis of that."
"The marketplace, the ACA marketplace, open enrollment takes place on Nov. 1," she said, referring to Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA). "People are receiving their premium notices that they're going to go to that marketplace and say, ‘I can't afford this.’ That is a real crisis for American families. And it drives up the cost of healthcare for every single person, no matter where you get your health insurance from."
Clark's messaging echoes the position of other leaders in the Democratic Party, such as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who have similarly made healthcare a focus of their messaging on the shutdown.
President Donald Trump, joined by Republican lawmakers, signs the OBBBA into law on Independence Day at the South Lawn of the White House in Washington. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
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Republicans in the House have rebuffed Democratic demands to open negotiations on the Obamacare tax credits as a condition for re-opening the government. Some of the chamber’s most conservative lawmakers called the idea a "non-starter" on Wednesday as the shutdown entered a third week.
The Senate voted for a 10th time on Thursday to reopen the government, but the vote failed amid the continued gridlock.
Chad Pergram currently serves as a senior congressional correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined the network in September 2007 and is based out of Washington, D.C.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/no-2-house-democrat-says-healthcare-drives-partys-strategy-shutdown-heads-next-week