Shutdown may be ending, but here’s why deal doesn’t suit Mark Kelly, Ruben Gallego

• A bipartisan group of U.S. senators is working on a deal to end the 40-day federal government shutdown.
• The emerging agreement would fund the government through January but does not extend Affordable Care Act subsidies.
• Senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego of Arizona oppose the deal, citing the lack of health insurance subsidy extensions.

A faction of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans in preliminary steps to end the record-long federal government shutdown, although Arizona’s senators oppose the emerging deal.

On its 40^th day, enough Democrats appeared ready to begin the multi-step legislative process needed to end the shutdown that began Oct. 1.

“It looks like we’re getting very close to the shutdown ending,” President Donald Trump told reporters in Washington.

Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego each issued statements Nov. 9 against the short-term spending agreement.

“In the richest country in the world, families shouldn’t have to choose between putting food on the table and their health care,” Kelly said. “But that’s exactly what Donald Trump has done to Americans with this shutdown.”  

Gallego signaled that he would not be moved by anything less than a deal to preserve the insurance subsidies that expire at the end of the year.

“I have been clear on this from the beginning: I will not turn my back on the 24 million Americans who will see their premiums more than double if we don’t extend these tax credits,” he said.

“At a time when prices are already too high, Americans are shopping for health insurance and experiencing such sticker shock that they are being forced to sign up for a crappy, overpriced plan or not signing up for insurance at all.”

The agreement, which could take several more days to finalize, appears to have enough Democratic support to allow it to move to a vote and would fund the government through January, along with several pieces of the annual budget bill that are supposed to be in place before the start of the federal fiscal year on Oct. 1.

It does not include any extension of the pandemic-era health insurance subsidies for those who buy coverage through the Affordable Care Act, which was the main Democratic demand. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who has been one of the three non-Republicans to consistently vote to end a shutdown, said Republicans had indicated they would allow a vote on the insurance issue.

“I think people were saying ‘We’re not going to get what we want,’ although we still have a chance,” he said, according to the New York Times.

The deal also includes a provision to bring back government workers fired by the Trump administration during the shutdown, said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, who told reporters that was instrumental in moving him to support it.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, remained against the deal, reflecting the deep division within his party.

“On Friday, we offered Republicans a compromise: a proposal that would extend the ACA tax credits for a year and open up the government at the same time,” he said.

“They once again said no, and when they said no on our compromise they showed they are against any health care reform. Instead, they passed the biggest health care cuts in our nation’s history — just to give tax breaks to billionaires.”

When will Adelita Grijalva get sworn in?

The process of approving the plan will require several Senate votes and will necessitate calling the House of Representatives back into session.

That could bring with it the belated swearing-in of Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, D-Arizona, who has been kept officially out of office since she easily won the special election to fill the seat vacated by the March death of her father, Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz.

Grijalva’s arrival in the House is expected to provide the last needed signatory to force the House to vote on publicly releasing the investigative files for Jeffrey Epstein.

The disgraced financier killed himself amid allegations of sex trafficking underage girls to VIPs. Trump is widely believed to be mentioned in the files involving his former friend.

Food benefit cuts and flight cancellations

For weeks, the shutdown had enough exceptions that many Americans could perhaps overlook the stalemate, but it has become more impactful for millions with impending limits on the government’s food benefits program and the growing cancellations of hundreds of domestic flights each day.

Kelly maintained there “should’ve never been a shutdown in the first place, and I worked to find a solution with Republicans and this administration.”

He accused Trump of not caring “about rising costs, skyrocketing health care premiums, or working families struggling to put food on the table. He has spent more time working on his ballroom than working to open the government. He sued to block food assistance for hungry families.”

Gallego said it was “disgusting that Republicans have put the country in the place, where they are pitting working people against each other.”

“There’s a phrase in Spanish, ‘Con salud, lo hay todo; sin salud, no hay nada.’ It means ‘With good health you have it all; without your health, you have nothing.’”