Democrats say that’s a nonstarter, arguing there are already limits on abortion access. The dispute could torpedo a deal, leading to higher health insurance premiums for millions.
Senate Republicans say they’re open to extending a pot of Affordable Care Act funds that will expire at the end of the year — but only if Democrats acquiesce to stricter abortion restrictions on insurance plans.
The demand presents a significant hurdle to reaching a bipartisan deal to extend ACA funding designed to avoid major premium hikes next year for more than 20 million Americans, as Democrats are adamant that existing abortion guardrails under Obamacare are sufficient.
If the funds are not extended by the end of the year, some people insured under Obamacare could see their bills rise by thousands of dollars per month, raising concerns that millions will choose to go uninsured.
But hey, at least we preserved the filibuster.
Sidenote - can we stop calling it “caving”? Caving implies they gave in to pressure, but there was no pressure. They were in a better position than ever. Even “surrender” feels wrong. This was a betrayal, and a non-zero number of people are going to die due to losing their health care. These senators have blood on their hands.
Exactly, this was neither caving, nor capitulation. It was calculated cowardice specifically designed to disenfranchise voters after they dared to vote for Mamdani.
This was a move planned and executed by Schumer meant to undercut the possibility of a progressive wave that might actually function as an opposition party. The pure and simple fact is that the establishment Dems are controlled. They helped Mike Johnson retain speaker of the house, they helped pass the “big beautiful” and now they are actively helping to remove healthcare access. They will continue to support fascism over progress.
Well said, this was first and foremost a targeted anti-solidarity action meant to divide democrats and spear progressive hope in the heart, it makes no sense otherwise.
The filibuster would’ve stayed anyway, there’s no way the republican senators were giving that up at this stage yet. Unlike the annoying orange, they will have to continue on for longer and will face the problems of getting rid of it and being a minority themselves at some point (hopefully). Most of the republican senators spoke out in support of it a week ago.
There was pressure in a way, in the form of all the government workers suffering from the shutdown. And we know that Dems give at least a tiny bit of a shit about them whereas the other side does not.
Still fucking cowards though.