Sen. Bernie Sanders led a group of Senate Democrats on Tuesday in arguing it’s crucial that members of their caucus vote against a government funding bill if they don’t get concessions from Republicans on health care.
They made their appeal to the public hours ahead of a government shutdown, livestreaming on X to Sanders’ 14.8 million followers. Sanders has one of the largest social media followings in Congress, and he’s used it to promote Democrats’ position in the shutdown fight.
“What Republicans want is to pass what is called a clean CR — in other words, maintaining the status quo,” Sanders said, adding that passing this continuing resolution would be “awful” because it does not restore cuts to Medicaid.
For weeks Democrats have signaled they want to use their leverage in a shutdown fight to try to keep Affordable Care Act subsidies from expiring. Sanders, along with seven of his Senate colleagues, argued that letting those subsidies expire would increase health care costs for millions of Americans.
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The senators sat through the stream as though they were at an unofficial Senate hearing, flanked by signs reading, “Mr. President: Do not shut down the government.”
“This is a righteous fight,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren said. “There is no fight better than this fight right now because this is a fight about health care that touches every single person in this country.”
“If the Republicans want our vote, then the answer is, we want something on health care. We want to protect access to health care for millions of people across this country, and we’re willing to get in the fight for that,” Warren said. “We understand that we don’t have as much power as we want, but that’s not the same as having no power at all.”
When funding negotiations came up earlier this year, Democrats — particularly leadership — caught heat from their base for not putting up more of a fight. On Sanders’ livestream, senators were clear they wanted their caucus to hold the line.
“People who’ve been watching can see that we’re in a fighting mood,” Sen. Peter Welch said.
While the Senate remains in session, the House is in recess even as House Democrats pointedly remain in Washington.
“What’s wild is that the government is going to shut down tonight, and the Republicans in the House of Representatives aren’t even here. They’re not in session,” Sen. Chris Murphy said. “They’re home, which tells you everything you need to know about how unserious Republicans are about what’s about to happen, that they’re going to let the government shut down.”
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