Democrats who refuse to agree to Republican demands to re-open the government unless concessions are made about extending Affordable Care Act subsidies and reversing Medicaid cuts are essentially making the same argument that Trump administration officials — and the President himself — are making to justify the short-term impact of tariffs.
Defending their positions, both say a little pain now will avoid larger pain in the future, and that short-term sacrifices will result in greater prosperity in the long run.
[NOTE: Trump wrote about the tariff impacts in February, saying ““WILL THERE BE SOME PAIN? YES, MAYBE (AND MAYBE NOT!) BUT WE WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, AND IT WILL ALL BE WORTH THE PRICE THAT MUST BE PAID.”]
Echoing a similar sentiment but applying it to temporary hardships brought on during the shutdown, Congressman Eric Swalwell (D-CA) contended that the pain was an unfortunate but necessary part of a process that will result in far less pain, less broadly distributed.
Succinctly explaining why Democrats have held firm, the Congressman said that Democrats won’t “co-sign on a government that takes health care away from people.”
Calling the current U.S. government “their government” — a nod to GOP control of both houses of congress and the executive branch — Swalwell addressed the dramatic, imminent rise in insurance rates through the ACA marketplace and sweeping cuts to Medicaid. Neither situation is being disputed by Republicans.
Democrats won’t cosign on a government that takes health care away from people. pic.twitter.com/Orf8ZvKzLS
— Eric Swalwell (@ericswalwell) October 7, 2025
Asked about whether the shutdown was the best way to achieve the Democrats’ goals — especially given the financial pain it causes to contract workers reliant on government-financed projects — Swalwell responded that Republicans with their congressional majorities don’t need Democrats to re-open the government. They can do so unilaterally, he said, by breaking the filibuster.
Swalwell indicated that the GOP is reluctant to fully “own” the rising health care costs by breaking the filibuster to thwart Democratic resistance.
[NOTE: The Medicaid cuts in the OBBBA that Democrats hope to reverse passed the House without a single Democratic lawmaker’s vote, meaning the shutdown fight is their first chance to exert leverage for their constituents who want Medicaid preserved in its current form. The OBBBA extended Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, but not the ACA subsidies aimed at the middle and working classes.]