It’s not my problem… that, in essence, is what House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) just told a reporter when asked about the possibility of standalone legislation for healthcare subsidies being passed in the House.
This is something that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) had been dangling in front of Democrats to try to get the continuing resolution (CR) passed and the government shutdown ended.
Johnson, however, is offering no guarantees that such a measure will see the House floor even if Thune gets the Democrats to agree to it.
A standalone vote was something that Thune first proposed in mid-October, but Democrats declined at that time because they wanted a guaranteed outcome, which Thune can obviously not give them.
I honestly believe that if the measure were put on the floor, the GOP would extend subsidies for one year, then want to talk about reforming the expansions that were added to Obamacare in 2021 when the American Rescue Plan was passed.
Democrats rejected the idea, however, to which Thune responded, “At some point, Democrats have to take yes for an answer.”
It was at this point that I knew the holdout was going to be long-term, as Democrats seemed intent on maintaining the standoff for as long as they could keep public sentiment on their side.
On Tuesday night, in terms of all the major elections, Democrats had a clean sweep.
Trump made the mistake of commenting that the shutdown hurt Republicans, a remark that Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) then turned into a poster to use at a press conference.
Democrats boasted all over the media that Tuesday was a referendum against Trump and Republicans, so they were going to dig their heels in deeper.
If I were leading the Democrat Party, I would get out while still on top. In a report this morning, I likened the situation to staying at the poker table too long only to see your stack wind up in front of someone else. That is what Democrats are doing… they are refusing to leave this table a winner. They are willing to risk everything to break their opponent.
That brings to us Johnson, who is also digging in, blasting Democrats for batting away the olive branch Thune offered them.
He stated, "Leader Thune has bent over backwards. He's offered them a vote. You know what they told him in response? ‘No, we need you to guarantee the outcome of that vote.’ Well, that's ridiculous.”
When Johnson was pressed further on holding a vote in the House if Thune can get that legislation passed in the Senate, he firmly stated, "No, because we did our job, and I'm not part of the negotiation. The House did its job on Sept. 19. I'm not promising anybody anything. I'm going to let this process play out.”
I want to see this shutdown ended, but I cannot blame Johnson for being upset. And I actually like the backbone he is showing here. My solution… put a CR bill on the floor three times a week to make Democrats vote no. I would also put a one-year extension for the healthcare subsidies on the floor before the CR vote, and force Democrats to vote “no” on it, then make sure the American people know it truly is the Democrats who are holding things up. We can take all the power away from Democrats by exposing them… I just don’t see how nobody realizes this, or perhaps they are just too scared to risk carrying out the plan.
