Schumer Floats Obamacare ‘Compromise’ to End Shutdown

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Friday proposed a so-called “compromise” aimed at ending the weeks-long government shutdown — but critics say it’s just another way to lock in Obamacare subsidies and dodge real negotiations.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Schumer called for a “clean, one-year extension” of Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies to be added to a temporary spending bill, while promising Democrats would be open to reforms later. “After so many failed votes, it’s clear we need to try something different,” he said, admitting that current negotiations were going nowhere.

But Schumer’s pitch wasn’t a real negotiation. He insisted it was “not a negotiation” at all — just a continuation of current law. In other words, Democrats want to keep the Obamacare subsidies in place with no strings attached while Republicans agree to reopen the government and talk later.

Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, have repeatedly said that talks about long-term health care policy should come after the shutdown is resolved — not bundled into a temporary deal that locks in more federal spending.

Schumer attempted to frame the offer as bipartisan, saying Democrats would support creating a committee to work on “reforms” after the government reopens, supposedly to make health care more affordable. But the move is being seen by many on the right as a stalling tactic to preserve Biden-era expansions to Obamacare subsidies without addressing their skyrocketing cost to taxpayers.

The ACA tax credits were first passed under Barack Obama and then expanded under Joe Biden, dramatically increasing the federal burden for subsidized health insurance. Republicans have argued for years that the program is fiscally irresponsible and ripe for reform.

Schumer closed by saying, “We need Republicans to just say, ‘Yes.’” But conservatives see this as more political theater — a last-ditch effort to save face while avoiding a real debate over America’s broken health care system.