Sen. Lindsey Graham pans negotiations on Obamacare subsidies as government shutdown drags on

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Sunday that he supported the Senate’s vote to reopen the federal government, but would not negotiate with Senate Democrats over their plan to expand Affordable Care Act subsidies while the government was still shut down.

“I’m ready to vote to open up the government tomorrow,” Graham told NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” “To my Democratic friends: I will not vote to extend these subsidies.”

“Let’s have a rational discussion, but not with the government shut down. It’s up to you. If you want to keep it closed, fine. It won’t change the way I approach health care,” the South Carolina senator added.

Graham’s comments come on the 11th day of the government shutdown, with hundreds of thousands of federal workers still unemployed and essential government services operating without staff or at lower than normal staffing levels.

The shutdown continues as the Senate deadlocks over whether to pass a temporary government funding measure.

The chamber has voted repeatedly over the past two weeks on a stopgap funding measure backed by GOP leaders that has already passed the House and would keep government funding at previous levels through Nov. 21. Democrats did not vote with Republicans enough to surpass the 60-vote threshold to pass this bill.

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Meanwhile, Democrats have proposed a temporary funding measure that would keep the government open until October 31. This continuing resolution would also reverse Medicaid cuts passed by Republicans earlier this year and extend subsidies for the Affordable Care Act that are set to expire at the end of the year.

Graham said Sunday that negotiating a possible extension of grants while the government was shut down was a failure for him, referencing the government shutdown in 2018-19, where Republicans and President Donald Trump tried to force Democrats to approve funding for a border wall.

“You know, we shut down the government for 35 days with Republicans trying to force Democrats to build the border wall,” Graham told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker. “Well, we finally got the wall built, but not because we shut down the government. »

“The subsidies we’re talking about here,” Graham added, “if the Affordable Care Act is so affordable, why, every time I turn around, are we spending $350 billion to keep it afloat?

Meanwhile, Sen. Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona, criticized Republicans earlier in the program for refusing to negotiate with Democrats, saying Trump only spoke to Democratic leaders for an hour about ACA subsidies.

“I think it’s important for all Americans to know that the current fight against the government shutdown is only about one thing. It’s about the cost of their health care,” Kelly said. “Tens of millions of people – in fact, about 19 million people are getting health care through the Affordable Care Act, and their prices are going to go up dramatically, and it’s going to become unaffordable.”

“The president negotiated for an hour, as far as we know, and the Republicans in the House have been out for four weeks. And John Thune, the Senate majority leader, sent people home for four days,” Kelly added.

He noted that the House passed the stopgap funding measure on September 19 and has not returned to Washington since then. Speaker Mike Johnson told House lawmakers on Friday that he was extending their district’s work period by at least one more week, until mid-October.

Asked if Democrats would vote to reopen the government if Republicans promised to hold a vote on extending ACA subsidies once the government reopens, Kelly firmly replied, “No.”

“Not at the moment, no,” the Arizona senator said. “We need a real negotiation, and we need a solution. We need this fixed for the American people. This concerns so many people: Their health care is headed to the precipice, and if we don’t fix this, they’re going to fall over the edge.”

Kelly added that for Democrats to reopen the government, they would need assurance that Republicans would not just vote on extending the subsidies, but that both parties could agree on what an extension would look like.

“Having a vote without a guaranteed outcome” was not the solution, Kelly said.

“All it will take is putting everyone in a room for an extended period of time and coming to a reasonable conclusion,” he added.