**Government Shutdown Stalemate Enters Third Week, Senators Urge Negotiations on Health Care and Reopening**
As the government shutdown stretched into its nineteenth day, political tensions in Washington remain high, with both Democrats and Republicans blaming each other for the impasse that has left federal agencies unfunded and many Americans without government services. The current shutdown is now the third-longest in modern U.S. history, and there is mounting pressure on Congress and the White House to find a resolution.
**Background: Why the Government Shut Down**
The shutdown began after Congress failed to pass legislation funding the government before the deadline more than two weeks ago. The main sticking point in negotiations has been the future of enhanced health insurance tax credits, which are set to expire soon and could result in a significant increase in health insurance premiums for millions of Americans. Democrats have made an extension of these tax credits a key condition for agreeing to reopen the government, arguing that allowing them to lapse would hurt working families by making health care unaffordable.
Republicans, on the other hand, have refused to negotiate on the tax credits until the government is reopened. They argue that discussions about health care can and should happen after the immediate crisis of the shutdown is resolved. This fundamental disagreement has brought negotiations to a standstill, with no clear path forward.
**The Political Standoff: Democrats Want Negotiations, Republicans Demand Reopening**
Appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, a Democrat, expressed optimism that the stalemate could be resolved quickly if Republicans agreed to negotiate on health care subsidies. “We should be able to wrap this up this week, if they will sit down and have a negotiation with us,” Kelly told host Margaret Brennan. He emphasized the urgency of addressing the looming increase in health care premiums, which is set to take effect on November 1 if Congress does not act to extend the tax credits.
Kelly criticized the lack of direct engagement between congressional leaders and the White House since the shutdown began. The last meeting involving President Trump and congressional leaders was held on September 29, before the funding deadline passed. Since then, Kelly said, the president has spent only one hour negotiating with Congress on the issue. “They need to get in the room and stay in a room until we can hash this out. The president has said he wants to fix this premium thing, and he wants the government open. That’s what we want,” Kelly asserted.
On the other side of the aisle, Senator Katie Britt, a Republican from Alabama, also appeared on “Face the Nation” and laid responsibility for the shutdown at the feet of Democrats. Britt argued that Democrats are “playing politics” by refusing to reopen the government before discussing health care. “Democrats need to come to the table and do the right thing,” she said. “There are a lot of people that are being affected by the Democrats playing politics, and they need to actually do what’s right, and that is work for the American people. And so getting the government open is number one.”
Britt maintained that Republicans are open to negotiations about health care reform but only after the government is funded and reopened. She insisted that it is possible to address multiple issues at once, saying, “We believe that you can walk and chew gum at the same time. Democrats, for some reason, don’t think that that’s possible. They need to come to the table, open the government back up, and then we’re happy to have a conversation about the broken system that they created and help them get out of their own mess.”
**Health Care Premiums at the Center of the Dispute**
The core policy dispute involves a set of enhanced health insurance tax credits, enacted in recent years to make coverage more affordable for Americans purchasing insurance through government exchanges. These credits are scheduled to expire soon, and without congressional action, premiums are expected to rise sharply for many families starting November 1. Democrats argue that failing to extend the credits would amount to a significant financial blow to working Americans at a time when inflation and high costs of living are already squeezing household budgets.
Senator Kelly underscored the importance of resolving the issue before the deadline. "What we need is to fix this skyrocketing premium — they're going to go up on Nov. 1 for people," he said. "What we need to do is fix this health care premium issue and open the government." For Democrats, using the leverage of the shutdown is