Top House Democrats vow to oppose shutdown bill over healthcare funding | US federal government shutdown 2025

As House Republican leaders move to vote on legislation to reopen the U.S. government, top Democrats vowed Tuesday to oppose the bill over calls for more health care funding that have not been met.

Democrats have demanded for weeks that any measures to fund the government include an extension of tax credits for Affordable Care Act health plans created under Joe Biden that expire at the end of the year, increasing enrollees’ premiums.

With encouragement from Donald Trump, Republican leaders in Congress rejected the request, leading to a spending impasse that resulted in the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. But Democrats’ resolve crumbled earlier this week when a splinter group in the Senate joined with the GOP to craft a compromise bill that would reauthorize government funding through January without extending tax credits.

The Senate passed this legislation Monday evening, and the House of Representatives is expected to consider it Wednesday afternoon. The House’s top Democrats oppose it, while minority leader Hakeem Jeffries called it “a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to undermine the health care of the American people” on Monday.

“No matter what comes our way this week, from the U.S. Senate to the House of Representatives, our position as House Democrats is clear: We will sit down with Republicans anytime, anywhere, to find a bipartisan path, but we are not satisfied with my method or their approach to highway management that is failing the American people,” he said.

On Tuesday, the centrist New Democrat Coalition, the House’s largest ideological group, announced their opposition to the measure.

“While New Democrats always seek common ground, our coalition remains united against legislation that sacrifices the well-being of the voters we are sworn to serve,” said Chairman Brad Schneider.

“Unfortunately, the Senate-passed bill does not address our constituents’ top priorities, does nothing to protect their access to health care, reduce its costs, or thwart the administration’s extreme agenda.”

The same sentiment emerges from the progressive congressional hearing, where Chairman Greg Casar called the measure “a betrayal of millions of Americans who trusted Democrats to fight for them.”

Democratic opposition is threatening a tight vote on Republican chairman Mike Johnson, who has kept the House out of session for more than 50 days in an effort to pressure Senate Democrats to yield to GOP demands.

With full turnout and a 219-member majority, it can only afford to lose two votes on the bill, with Kentucky representative Thomas Massie likely to vote no.

However, Democrats may also have some defectors from their ranks. Jared Golden of Maine, who announced last week that he would not seek another term to represent a district that voted for Trump last year, was the only Democrat to vote for a Republican funding bill in September that did not expand the tax credit. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, whose Washington state district is similarly friendly to the president, also expressed her support for the bill.

Both lawmakers’ offices did not immediately respond to a request for comment on how they would vote on the Senate’s compromise.

The compromise bill cleared the Senate Monday evening with 60 votes, the minimum number needed to clear the chamber’s threshold for advancement. All Republicans supported passage of the measure except Rand Paul of Kentucky and eight moderate members of the Democratic caucus, many of whom were recently re-elected or are serving their final terms in office.

That group included Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Dick Durbin of Illinois, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Jacky Rosen of Nevada and Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with the party.

Although they did not get an extension of the tax credits, the group demanded that Republican Senate majority leader John Thune agree to a vote on extending the subsidies by mid-December. But it is not yet clear whether enough Republicans will vote to pass the legislation, and Johnson has not agreed to put the issue to a vote in the House.

Although Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer has not publicly supported the bill, Shaheen told Fox News on Monday that the group was “informing leadership from start to finish.” Progressive organizations that supported Schumer’s strategy during the shutdown now oppose him for allowing compromise to come together.

Indivisible has announced plans to support Democratic candidates in the primaries who oppose Schumer remaining as party leader, and MoveOn has joined calls for him to concede.

“With the basic needs of working people at stake, it is time for Senator Schumer to step down as minority leader to make room for those who want to fight fire with fire,” said Katie Bethell, director of MoveOn Political Action.