Democrats on Capitol Hill loudly told us for the past 30 years that government shutdowns don’t result in legislative concessions. They were right. And maybe they should have heeded their own advice.
When House Speaker Newt Gingrich led a GOP shutdown in late 1995 and early 1996, he wanted to extract budget concessions from President Bill Clinton. It didn’t work.
When Republicans demanded a repeal of the Affordable Care Act — Obamacare — during a 2013 shutdown, it didn’t work. The GOP had to give in.
When President Donald Trump wanted extra money for his border wall during the 2018-2019 shutdown, it didn’t work. Trump had to cave.
But Democrats somehow thought this shutdown would be different. In the end, it wasn’t.
Democrats played the shutdown card once before in early 2018, trying to get a deal to protect young immigrant “Dreamers.”
But Senate Democrats gave up after just a few days — getting a fig leaf promise of a vote on immigration — much like the promise of a December vote on health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.
Even though Democrats failed to force action on their central issue and are now engaged in a circular firing squad of finger-pointing about who is to blame, they seem to have succeeded in thrusting the issue of health insurance affordability squarely before voters.
“I don’t think middle-class families should be paying thousands of dollars more per year for health insurance,” said Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga.
“The question is whether Republicans in Congress will join us to prevent catastrophic increases in health insurance premiums,” added Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff.
Those arguments might sound well and good. But it seems hard to imagine a scenario where Republicans in Congress — most of whom cannot stand the Obama health law — would somehow agree to help fix it by extending a series of expiring subsidies.
There was one vote in the Senate on that, as Democrats tried to extend the subsidies under Obamacare for one year.
It lost on a party line vote of 53-47.
Republicans have said they will come up with their own health insurance plan, but they have been woefully short on specifics, one reason U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, has repeatedly complained about the GOP not being ready for this fight.
“Families are terrified about what’s happening to their health insurance,” said Greene.
Democrats may have lost this shutdown battle. But they still have a chance to win the broader health care fight. It could turn out to be one of the defining issues in the 2026 midterm elections.
Jamie Dupree has covered national politics and Congress from Washington, D.C. since the Reagan administration. His column appears weekly in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. For more, check out his Capitol Hill newsletter at http://jamiedupree.substack.com
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
