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As the shutdown enters its second month, Democrats dodged questions on whether their hardline stance on extending Obamacare subsidies is worth keeping federal workers without pay and risking benefits through the government closure.
Asked by Fox News Digital whether it is worth continuing the standoff over Obamacare as federal workers go weeks without pay and benefits lag, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., answered, “We have to ask a Republican, because the Republicans have agreed to exactly zero negotiations.”
“Donald Trump is out flying around the world, the Republicans here in the Senate won’t do a damn thing without Donald Trump telling them to, and the House Republicans are now on their sixth week of paid vacation,” Warren continued. “So, you know, we’d like to sit down and negotiate, but we’ve got no Republicans on the other side.”
President Donald Trump embarked on a diplomatic tour to Asia this week, visiting with leaders from several different countries, both friendly and unfriendly to the U.S., including South Korea, Japan and China.
GOVERNMENT LIMPS DEEPER INTO SHUTDOWN CRISIS WITH NO DEAL IN SIGHT
House Republicans, meanwhile, have been in recess, with Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., indicating the body will remain thus until the Senate agrees to the House-passed budget continuing resolution bill to reopen the government.
When asked the same question, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., also placed the blame on Trump, saying, “He’s got to agree to live by the deal we come up with; thus far we’ve not been able to get him to agree.”
“The issue that matters the most to me in opening government is getting the president to guarantee that if we open it, he won’t then tear up the deal,” Kaine added. “We have to do a budget deal for 30 days or 45 days, whatever is done, but he has to agree that if you do that, he won’t then the next day start firing more people, canceling projects.”
Kaine credited Trump for finding funds to pay U.S. troops, “when the House refused to come back to take up a military pay bill,” saying, “I think that’s important.”
Still, he also ripped on the president, saying, “Nobody should go hungry, nobody should go without pay. President Trump has billions of dollars in a contingency fund for staff that Congress put there for this moment and he is cruelly refusing to use it, and that’s all on him.”
THUNE, GOP REJECT PUSHING ‘RIFLE-SHOT’ GOVERNMENT FUNDING BILLS DURING SHUTDOWN
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., meanwhile, called Trump’s stance “as fabulously immoral as any act seen by any president ever.”
“The funding is there for November, $5.5 billion,” he said, “The president has the authority to distribute those funds … But the president decided to attack the welfare of America’s children as a bargaining chip.”
Faced with the question, Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., said, “Republicans are giving us two choices: either take health care away from millions of people or take food away from millions of people and don’t pay the troops. I don’t think that’s the choice that we’re facing.”
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., shot back, “You’re talking to the wrong Democratic senator because I voted for the continuing resolution 13 times.”
SENATE DEMOCRATS DEFY WHITE HOUSE WARNINGS, AGAIN BLOCK GOP BID TO REOPEN GOVERNMENT
Pressed further on why more Democratic senators haven’t followed suit, Cortez-Masto said, “You’ve got to talk to my colleagues.”
Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., also framed the issue as one of affordability, saying, “The Republicans in the House haven’t been to work in six weeks. So, it shows how callous and uncaring they really are. They need to reopen this government immediately.”
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“We also need to ensure that we don’t inflict any further pain. We’ve inflicted so much pain on hardworking, working-class Americans who cannot afford not only the insurance and healthcare, they can no longer afford groceries,” she said, adding, “This administration is causing our economy to fail and our hurting families every day.”
Alsobrooks noted, “I have voted on eight different occasions to reopen the government and, you know what, the Republicans need to come to the table and negotiate something that allows us both the reopen this government and to make sure that we are ensuring that Americans are able to afford health care coverage.”
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