House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., accompanied by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and other Democrats, speaks following a Democratic leadership meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on April 8, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Key Democrat demands that went unfulfilled in the 43-day shutdown standoff — coupled with an uphill climb to fund the government for the rest of 2026 — look poised to keep the possibility of another shutdown alive for now.
In the shutdown, Democrats had hoped to secure an extension of COVID-era tax credit subsidies for Obamacare that had facilitated the burden of rising premiums but also dramatically expanded the program’s costs.
In 2021, the government expanded federal assistance to help Obamacare policyholders pay their premiums as an emergency response to the global pandemic. With those tax credits set to expire at the end of the year, Democrats fear millions of policyholders could be left paying substantially higher premiums overnight if the subsidies are allowed to sunset.
According to findings by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan fiscal policy research group, continuing the expanded credits could cost upwards of $30 billion annually.
Now that the government has reopened with no concession on the subsidies, many Democrats remain skeptical Republican lawmakers will address them now or work towards overhauling healthcare costs.
"I find it hard to believe that they’re serious about this," Sen. Wyden, D-Ore., said of Republican plans to address subsidy reform. "You’ve got to play hardball with the insurance companies. You’ve gotta have some teeth in it. So put me down as skeptical, but if they are — we can have a conversation."
SENATE REACHES TEMPORARY TRUCE TO END RECORD SHUTDOWN, BUT JANUARY BATTLE LOOMS
House Appropriations Committee ranking member Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., talks to reporters following a House Democratic caucus meeting at the Capitol on Sept. 29, 2025 in Washington. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Although the three bills that passed earlier this week eliminate the possibility of a full shutdown come January, Congress could still trigger a partial shutdown if lawmakers fail to reach a consensus on what to do about the rest of the country’s spending legislation.
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The House and Senate have adjourned for the weekend. Lawmakers will return to Washington, D.C. next week.
Leo Briceno is a politics reporter for the congressional team at Fox News Digital. He was previously a reporter with World Magazine.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/shutdown-over-washingtons-budget-brawl-just-getting-started