Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) said a rift is emerging between President Trump and GOP leaders in Congress about whether to use a short-term government funding bill to prevent health insurance premiums from soaring next year because of the expiration of enhanced subsidies at the end of this year.
“The particular focus was on health care. When we made these arguments it was clear there was a division or possible division between the president and the two Republican leaders,” Schumer said, referring to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
Schumer met with Trump, Thune, Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) at the White House on Monday afternoon to discuss government funding, which is set to expire at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday. Democrats are demanding an extension of the enhanced health insurance subsidies, as well as other health care provisions, in exchange for their votes to keep the government open.
Schumer said the GOP leaders “wanted to kick the health care problem down the road.”
But the Democratic leader said Trump seemed more sympathetic to the suffering of ordinary Americans who will see their premiums rise and may lose access to health care.
“There was a real division because when we talked to the president about the problems in health care and mentioned to him a woman I had met who was crying because she said her daughter was losing her health care, her daughter has cancer. … He was not aware that Americans would pay, so many Americans, tens of millions of Americans, would pay huge increases in their health care bills because of the ACA expiring in December,” Schumer said, referring to Trump.
“He was not aware that the real effect of that starts Oct. 1, not Dec. 31,” Schumer added.
Thune disputed Schumer’s characterization of the meeting.
“I think Schumer is desperate to change the subject. I don’t know what he’s talking about. I mean we’re all on the same page,” Thune said as he walked into his office after a vote late Monday afternoon.
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Thune and Johnson have both said they aim to address the expiring health care premium tax credits later this year, but they are against attaching them to the funding stopgap that needs to pass by the Sept. 30 deadline.
Schumer said he and Jeffries emphasized both the impending expiration of health care subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the problem of pocket rescissions and impoundments, which they view as attempts to usurp congressional spending authority.
Schumer said he urged Trump to prevail on Republican leaders to add to the seven-week government funding stopgap measure language to extend the ACA subsidies and address pocket rescissions.
“We told the president he can solve the problem by demanding of the legislative leaders, of Thune and of Johnson, that we start off with the ACA — just take our provision on the ACA and put it in their bill,” he said of the House-passed continuing resolution.
“It’s in the president’s hands whether to avoid a shutdown or not. He has to convince the Republican leaders. Now we know why they didn’t want him to meet with us,” Schumer added.
