Republicans Must Negotiate to Prevent Health Care Cost Spikes, Protect Funding Laws

The Trump Administration’s threat to illegally fire more workers if the President doesn’t get his way is blatant extortion: using working people and their families — as well as the important public services those workers provide — as pawns in a power play with no concern for who gets hurt.

Let’s be clear about what’s going on here: the Trump Administration has repeatedly shredded the last bipartisan funding bill — illegally canceling or freezing funding that Republicans and Democrats agreed to (e.g., for medical research, education, or mental health treatment), and keeping it from reaching the people and communities it’s meant to serve.

Republicans are claiming their short-term continuing resolution is business as usual, but nothing about this moment is normal. We’ve never seen a President unilaterally and unlawfully ignore bipartisan budget laws and then expect Congress to do nothing to stop him.

Meanwhile, the President and Republican congressional leaders are doing nothing to address a looming, massive health care cost spike for more than 20 million people. They have so far refused bipartisan negotiations to prevent families across the country already struggling to afford health care and other basics from taking this hit. Indeed, they have rejected bipartisan discussions on anything related to year-end spending bills, even as they need bipartisan support in the Senate to pass short- or long-term funding bills.

Congressional Republicans and the President need to come to the table with Democrats to reach a deal that prevents health care cost spikes for millions of people and ensures the Administration can’t unilaterally or illegally undo parts of bipartisan funding laws simply because the President dislikes them.