LOS ANGELES (OC).–Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told “Morning Joe” with Joe Scarborough that House Speaker Mike Johnson was responsible for the government shutdown, blaming the 53-year-old Speaker for the current stalemate. Johnson refused to negotiate with Democrats to restore some $1.5 billion in cuts of Medicaid and Obamacare subsidies to the federal budget, something left out in Trump’s July 4, “big beautiful bill.” Republicans, like by Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought eliminated $1.5 trillion in future Medicaid spending, something Democrats find unacceptable. Republicans should have thought that such draconic action would eventually shut down the U.S. government. Yet Republicans plowed ahead with their own priorities, ignoring Democrat requests to reinstate Medicaid funding. Republicans claimed that illegal aliens were receiving Medicaid funding.
Schumer and other Democrats in the House and Senate have taken a strong stand on Republicans removing $1.5 trillion in Medicaid funding, something that drives up health care costs, potentially driving million out of Medicaid. Democrats should have never agreed to the “big beautiful bill” knowing that the next time the government ran out of cash they would shut down the government until Republicans agreed to reinstate the Medicaid funding. Johnson said he had no problem negotiating a return of Medicaid spending but wanted first a continuing budget resolution [CR] keep the government open while Democrats and Republicans hashed out the details. Democrats insisted, led by Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) to not let that happen. Schumer and Jeffries know Democrats must use all their leverage to reinstate Medicaid coverage.
With Republicans controlling the White House, Senate and House, Democrats have very little leverage to fight back, other than using a government shutdown. Johnson couldn’t get Democrats to agree to a new CR because they don’t want to get up a fight over the next month to get the White House, House and Senate Republican to agree to reinstate Medicaid funding. “The American people know the Republicans have the presidency, they have the Senate and they have the House and the blame will be on them,” Schumer told Joe Scarborough. “And they will have to negotiate with U.S.,” Schumer said, knowing that the government shut down hurts Republicans more than Democrats. Most future voters know that Medicaid funding is worth fighting for because it’s such an integral part of the health care system, something now threatened under Trump’s budget.
Schumer puts most of the blame on Johnson for sending his caucus home before the looming shutdown, staying to work on a compromise. No rank-and-file Republicans objects to reinstating Medicaid funding because they come from poor states that defend on Obamacare exchange where health care premiums are sold on the open market. Obamacare allowed poor Americans to afford health care premiums by allowing the government to pay a portion of the premium based on an income test. Obamacare subsidies are a key provision to the affordability of Obamacare because they otherwise are prohibitively expensive. Republicans know this but ignored the reality of cutting Medicaid. Medicaid provides the Obamacare subsidies necessary to paying for government-sponsored premiums. Schumer insists that Democrats are ready and willing to reach a compromise.
Republicans accused Democrats of holding the government hostage unless Republicans agreed to provide illegal aliens with Medicaid benefits. Schumer denied the accusation, not realizing that cetain states like California allow Medicaid funds to pay for illegal aliens frequenting emergency rooms in California hospitals. Without Medicaid funding, hospitals are required, regardless of immigration status, to treat anyone. With Medicaid available in California hospitals, they would go unpaid without Medicaid funding. Most states have no provision to extend Medicaid payments to hospirals providing emergency care to undocumented people. Schumer gets defensive when accused of extending Medicaid benefits to illegal aliens but the fact is that it happens in California and a handful of other states like Oregon and Washington State. Democrats don’t think Medicaid should go to illegal aliens.
Cutting $1.5 trillion out of Medicaid was a bad idea from the get-go for Republicans, pushed by White House OMB Director Russell Vought. Whatever came out of Project 2025, Republicans and Democrats should reject provisions that hurt government-sponsored health care under the Medicaid system. Vought knew what he was doing balancing the budget on the backs of the working poor that count of Medicaid funding. Johnson thought it was simple as getting another short-term CR but Democrats dug in on the Medicaid issue. Republicans can’t kick the can down the road this time around, requiring the GOP to step up and find the cash needed to reinstate full Medicaid funding. Hospitals, clinics, doctors, patients and the economy need a robust Medicaid-funded health care system, responsible for thousands of good-paying health care jobs. What better way to spend taxpayer dollars?
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
