Jeffries suggests ‘clean’ CR is nonstarter for Dems

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) strongly suggested Wednesday that Democrats would oppose an extension of current government funding levels if Republicans go that route to avoid a shutdown. 

Jeffries and House Democrats were fervently opposed to a Republican-only funding bill in March, warning it would undermine federal programs at the expense of low-income people. 

With that in mind, Jeffries said merely extending those same levels of funding, as a continuing resolution (CR) is designed to do, is likely to hit another wall of opposition with Democrats.

“In March, House Democrats strongly opposed the partisan Republican spending bill that hurt everyday Americans in a variety of ways, including making their health care more expensive,” Jeffries said during a press briefing in the Capitol. “A continuing resolution that continues the failed policies of the Republican Party that we voted against is not the type of policy that actually meets the needs of the American people."

The remarks come as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and his leadership team are racing to fund the government before it expires at the end of the month. A failure of Congress to act would result in a partial government shutdown.

The Speaker said Tuesday his preferred strategy is to move a CR combined with updated allocations for several other agencies, including funding for veterans programs and military construction, the Agriculture Department and legislative branch. 

“If we are able to get that conference going, then you would have three bills there,” Johnson told reporters.  

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, is also pushing that plan. 

“We’re not interested in just a CR by itself,” Cole said Tuesday. “I want to move some product as well, to show good faith with our members that we are moving things.”

Still, those additions would do little to address the spending levels for most of the government in the underlying CR, which were the source of the Democrats’ criticism in March and appear likely to drive a similar opposition this month. Party leaders are emphasizing the erosion of health care benefits, in particular, as something they could never support.

"Democrats are prepared to support a bipartisan spending agreement that meets the needs of the American people, in terms of their health, public safety and economic well-being,” Jeffries said. “But we will not support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to rip away health care from the American people.”

A major part of the health care debate revolves around ObamaCare tax credits scheduled to expire at the end of the year. Those subsidies currently benefit more than 22 million patients, whose premiums are expected to skyrocket if Congress doesn’t extend the credits. 

Many Democrats think the issue must be addressed this month, since premium rate letters tend to go out in October. That information is likely to influence the decision of patients to sign up for plans — or not — during ObamaCare’s open enrollment period, which launches before the tax credits expire. Jeffries suggested that’s one of the red lines determining Democratic support for a spending bill this month. 

“The open enrollment period begins in less than two months. It begins on Nov. 1,” he said. “So this is one of many issues that should be addressed urgently by the United States Congress.” 

From the House minority, Jeffries and the Democrats have no power to block the funding legislation if Johnson is able to rally GOP lawmakers behind it. The longer term question is whether Democrats would also hold the line in the Senate, where they have the power to sink the bill in the form of a filibuster — if they choose to use it. 

In March, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) infuriated House Democrats when he voted for the Republican-crafted bill, sending it to the desk of President Trump. This time around, the Senate Democratic leader appears to be taking a different tack, at least rhetorically, warning Republicans that a partisan bill is the surest way to a shutdown.