House Speaker Mike Johnson lashed out at Democrats on Monday for creating the healthcare crisis they are now using to demand more than a trillion dollars in new spending to reopen the goverment, much of which would be used to continue subsidizing “Obamacare” medical premiums.
Democrats have kept the government shut down for more than five weeks by failing to side with Republicans on a clean continuing budget resolution to reopen the government. While most Democrats in the House opposed it, all the measure needed in the lower chamber was a majority vote, which it received thanks to GOP support.
But in the Senate, 60 votes are needed to overcome the filibuster and advance legislation. So far, only a few Democrats have joined the 53 Republicans to support the bill after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) instructed his caucus to oppose the bill and keep the government shuttered while demanding the Obamacare subsidies be added before they expire next month.
Republican leaders have said they are willing to negotiate the subsidies but demanded that Democrats support the clean spending bill to reopen the government after many of them supported an identical measure last spring.
At a Monday press conference, Johnson addressed the subsidies and blamed Democrats for using them as leverage to reopen the government.
“It is the Democrats who created Obamacare. It is the Democrats who did that without any Republican votes” during then-President Barack Obama’s first term, Johnson said.
“It’s the Democrats who by extension have cost the American taxpayers and people who have health insurance, have made their costs skyrocket,” he added
“It is their policies that made that happen. And instead of reforming it, the Democrats don’t reform Obamacare. They want to subsidize it. They want to spend more taxpayer dollars,” he continued.
“That, by the way, goes mostly to insurance companies, which makes the cost rise further. That’s the Democrats’ plan,” he said. “When they passed Obamacare in 2010, they called it the ‘Affordable Care Act.’ We know the truth is exactly the opposite. By some estimates, premiums have risen 60 percent.”
“Republicans are the ones fighting to save healthcare. Why? It’s not just talking points to us. We do this. We have ideas and we have already implemented ideas and measures to reduce costs, increase access and quality, and eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse,” Johnson continued.
“We got millions of ineligible enrollees off the program and it preserved it. It strengthened Medicaid for the people who rely upon it, which is the elderly, disabled, and young pregnant women, as we always use an example,” he added.
“No, [the shutdown] is not about healthcare. That is a false claim and everybody knows it. Everyone in America, and certainly everybody in this room, understands that this is about something else. It’s about FEAR [of the radical left],” he added.
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On “Fox News Sunday,” Johnson said President Donald Trump was “eager” and “determined” to reopen the federal government as quickly as possible.
“I think what you’re seeing there is a reflection of his anger, his real frustration that the government is closed. He he is a big-hearted president,” Johnson told anchor Shannon Bream.
“He wants everybody to get their services, and the health services for veterans and SNAP benefits and all the rest. And he’s tried everything he can, and he is now exhausting his ability. The courts are now saying you can’t go any further. So he’s just desperate for the government to open. He’s tried everything,” Johnson said.