Sen. Kennedy Responds to Schumer’s Shutdown Proposal
Senator John Kennedy from Louisiana shared his thoughts on Fox News with host Martha McCallum, expressing a desire for patience after Senator Chuck Schumer’s recent statements regarding the ongoing government shutdown.
On the Senate floor, Schumer suggested that Democrats would agree to end the shutdown, which has now lasted 37 days, in exchange for extending enhanced Obamacare subsidies that were implemented during the pandemic. Kennedy appeared on “The Story,” where he strongly opposed Schumer’s proposal, arguing that an extension wouldn’t effectively address the underlying issues or lead to lower premiums.
“God, please give me patience, because if you give me strength, I’m going to need bail money,” Kennedy commented with a touch of humor. He critiqued Schumer’s suggestion, calling it impractical. “Does that mean we need to collect $35 billion in taxes to hand to health insurance companies with no guarantee of reduced costs? How is that a solution?”
Kennedy expressed his skepticism further, noting, “Healthcare companies will just pocket that $35 billion. I don’t know what Sen. Schumer is thinking. Am I going to support this? No, definitely not. We need to come to terms with the reality of the shutdown. I’ve voted to end it multiple times, but we still find ourselves in this situation.”
Other Senate Republicans quickly dismissed Schumer’s remarks, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who described the last proposal as insincere and unrealistic. Thune stated that while the Democrats might show signs of progress, there’s still a long way to go.
In Schumer’s address to the Senate, he claimed that Democrats were prepared to facilitate an early passage of a government funding bill that would include measures for healthcare affordability. “Leader Thune could easily tackle the rising healthcare costs by adding a year-long extension of the ACA tax credit to the continuing resolution,” Schumer noted.
Thune later characterized the Democratic proposal as insufficient and suggested that discussions about extending Obamacare should only take place once the government reopens. In the background of this ongoing debate, Schumer remained optimistic about the Democrats’ position, predicting that each day would bring their party closer to a favorable outcome as the shutdown continued.
