U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks to reporters as Senate Democratic leaders hold a press conference following their weekly policy lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., Sept. 9, 2025.
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters
Congressional Democrats are zeroing in on health care as a key sticking point in negotiations with the threat of a government shutdown looming.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York, have said that they will not support GOP-backed legislation to keep the government funded unless it includes certain health-care provisions, setting up a bitter policy fight with GOP lawmakers that could trigger a shutdown.
“We have made clear that under no circumstances will we support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to rip away health care from the American people,” Jeffries said on the House floor this week.
With funding on the brink, congressional Democrats are demanding that any legislation that would avert a shutdown include an extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of this year unless Congress intervenes.
If the tax credits disappear, average premiums could soar by about 75%, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group.
The vast majority of Americans with a health plan from the ACA marketplace had a premium tax credit in 2025, according to KFF, meaning their elimination would have widespread consequences.
Democrats have also repeatedly criticized the cuts to Medicaid that were part of the “One, Big Beautiful Bill,” and they want Republicans to reverse them.
With Democrats appearing to hold firm, their new hard line will complicate negotiations ahead of Sept. 30, which is when government funding is currently set to expire.
A unified House Republican conference could pass legislation without Democratic support, but Senate Republicans need some Democratic support, given their razor-thin majority.
In March, Schumer joined Republicans to avert a government shutdown, but his move drew sharp criticism from his party.
This time, with an eye on the 2026 midterm elections, Schumer and his Democratic colleagues have signaled that they will not support government funding legislation that does not include the key concessions.
But Republicans, for their part, also appear unlikely to budge on the Democratic lawmakers’ requests.
President Donald Trump dismissed Democrats’ demands, telling Fox News this week that “there is something wrong with them.”
“If you gave them every dream right now … they want to give away money to this or that and destroy the country. If you gave them every dream, they would not vote for it,” Trump said on “Fox and Friends.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., also accused Democrats of “clamoring” for a government shutdown.
“They want a fight with the Trump administration,” Thune told Punchbowl News’ “Fly Out Day.”
“But they don’t have a good reason to do it. And I don’t intend to give them a good reason to do it,” he continued.
With time ticking, lawmakers are likely to pursue a stopgap measure to keep funding stable at federal agencies.
But even reaching that temporary solution will be an uphill battle.