Shutdown is over, but Washington’s budget brawl is just getting started

The nation’s longest shutdown on record just ended — but the issues behind it remain far from resolved.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said she envisions not much will have changed by the time the government has to reevaluate its spending needs on Jan. 30.

“My sense is that we would probably be in the same place on Jan. 30 as we are now,” DeLauro said.

When asked if that means he sees another government shutdown in the cards, Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., declined to answer.

“I remain laser-focused on healthcare reform,” Warnock said. 

LONGEST GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN IN HISTORY NEARS LIKELY END AS HOUSE MOVES ON FUNDING BILL

Key Democrat demands that went unfulfilled in the 43-day shutdown standoff — coupled with an uphill climb to fund the government for the rest of 2026 — look poised to keep the possibility of another shutdown alive for now.

In the shutdown, Democrats had hoped to secure an extension of COVID-era tax credit subsidies for Obamacare that had facilitated the burden of rising premiums but also dramatically expanded the program’s costs.

In 2021, the government expanded federal assistance to help Obamacare policyholders pay their premiums as an emergency response to the global pandemic. With those tax credits set to expire at the end of the year, Democrats fear millions of policyholders could be left paying substantially higher premiums overnight if the subsidies are allowed to sunset.

According to findings by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan fiscal policy research group, continuing the expanded credits could cost upwards of $30 billion annually.

Now that the government has reopened with no concession on the subsidies, many Democrats remain skeptical Republican lawmakers will address them now or work towards overhauling healthcare costs.

“I find it hard to believe that they’re serious about this,” Sen. Wyden, D-Ore., said of Republican plans to address subsidy reform. “You’ve got to play hardball with the insurance companies. You’ve gotta have some teeth in it. So put me down as skeptical, but if they are — we can have a conversation.”

SENATE REACHES TEMPORARY TRUCE TO END RECORD SHUTDOWN, BUT JANUARY BATTLE LOOMS

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., also said she doesn’t know what will change between now and January. She does, however, think the political gravity of the situation will look very different if the issue remains unaddressed.

“Well, I think what’s going to happen is that by January a lot of people’s health insurance premiums are going to kick in,” she said. “And my biggest concern is that come January there could potentially be millions of people that are now uninsured because they were priced out or cut out of their health insurance.”

“And so, to me, it’s a life or death matter for tens of thousands of Americans.”

Findings by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a healthcare policy think tank, indicate that over 90% of Obamacare enrollees make use of the enhanced credits in 2025 — the vast majority of the program’s 24 million policyholders.

In addition to unresolved tensions over Obamacare’s COVID-era subsidies, Democrats also noted that there’s a long way to go before Congress puts its 2026 spending needs to bed.

DeLauro explained that the majority of the country’s funding picture remains unresolved. The bill that ended the shutdown also passed three of the country’s 12 annual spending bills: the legislative branch, agriculture and military construction, and Veterans Affairs. That leaves the majority of the work up in the air.

“There are nine bills to go,” DeLauro said. “The bills that have come forward have been nothing but unilaterally partisan bills. So those will have to be negotiated. We have two parties here, two sides. In the past, we have had serious negotiation back and forth. And that’s what we need to do. And that is not happening.”

‘THE PANDEMIC’S OVER’: GOP, DEM SENATORS SPAR ON CAMERA OVER COSTLY OBAMACARE SUBSIDIES

Although the three bills that passed earlier this week eliminate the possibility of a full shutdown come January, Congress could still trigger a partial shutdown if lawmakers fail to reach a consensus on what to do about the rest of the country’s spending legislation.

The House and Senate have adjourned for the weekend. Lawmakers will return to Washington, D.C., next week.