The U.S. Senate may have reached a tentative agreement to end the longest federal government shutdown in history, but a number of House Democrats — including nearly a dozen from Los Angeles County — have made clear they intend to vote “no.”
The deal, reached late Sunday night, Nov. 9, would fund the government through late January in exchange for a mid-December vote to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, which are set to expire on Jan. 1.
But many Democrats, furious with the Senate compromise, say there’s no guarantee that health care subsidies would be extended under the separate vote.
Since the Senate vote, several L.A. County members of Congress — all Democrats — have said they will vote “no” on the deal, including Reps. Nanette Barragán, Judy Chu, Gil Cisneros, Laura Friedman, Robert Garcia, Jimmy Gomez, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Luz Rivas and Brad Sherman. Reps. Linda Sánchez of Whittier and Derek Tran of Orange, both of whom represent districts that overlap L.A. and Orange counties, also said they plan to oppose the Senate budget bill.
On the other hand, Rep. Young Kim, a Republican from Orange County, indicated that she plans to cast a “yes” vote.
Here’s what various members of Congress had to say about the Senate bill.
“The Senate might fold, but I sure … won’t,” Gomez, of Los Angeles, posted on X shortly after Sunday’s Senate vote.
“The Senate wants us to ‘trust’ them to fix it later with a debate on a bill, maybe?” he added, referring to the ongoing debate over extending the ACA tax credits, before saying he’s a firm “no” on the deal.
Kamlager-Dove was equally emphatic that she would not support the deal.
“Any bill that fails to address Republicans’ health care crisis” would be a “no” vote for her, she wrote on X. “A pinky promise from a party led by the world’s biggest liar means absolutely nothing.”
Garcia, of Long Beach, was equally critical of the Senate bill. “This is not a deal, it’s a surrender to (President Donald) Trump,” he said.
Sherman called a plan that would cause health care premiums to double or triple for 22 million Americans “a bad deal.” Besides, he said, “a promise to hold a vote on health care premiums in the Senate is irrelevant, since Speaker Mike Johnson won’t allow a vote in the House.”
Johnson, R-Louisiana, hasn’t committed to calling a vote in the House to extend health care subsidies.
Chu, of Monterey Park, blamed the record-setting shutdown on Trump and Republicans, accusing them of “making health care more expensive for the American people.”
“Twenty million Americans’ premiums are skyrocketing by hundreds or thousands of dollars per month because Republicans blocked every single Democratic attempt to stop it,” she said, adding, “They found trillions for billionaire tax cuts but won’t lift a finger to extend the ACA tax credits that help working Americans see their doctor and afford medicine.”
Cisneros, of Covina, also blamed Trump and Republicans, calling their actions during the shutdown “nothing short of cruel.”
“Everything from his (Trump’s) denial of payment for SNAP benefits to his recent threats to air traffic controllers just shows that they do not prioritize the American people,” Cisneros said.
When asked how she plans to vote on the Senate deal, a spokesperson for Friedman referred to comments the Glendale lawmaker made earlier Sunday, before the Senate took its vote.
“I won’t rubber-stamp a Republican agenda that rips health care from millions of Americans. If the bill coming from the Senate takes away your ability to see a doctor and afford your medications, I’m a no,” Friedman said.
Barragán, of San Pedro, said, “House Democrats have been clear since the beginning of the government shutdown that the tax credits must be extended.”
Otherwise, she said, health care premiums will skyrocket, putting the health of millions of working families at risk. “It will be harder and harder for them to see a doctor, fill prescriptions and receive critical care,” she said.
Rivas, who represents parts of the San Fernando Valley, wrote on X that “this is a bad deal — but our fight is not over.”
Eight Democrats voted with Republicans to pass the Senate budget bill on Sunday.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, a senior Democrat who will be retiring, often took the lead in negotiating the compromise legislation to reopen the government. In the end, she settled for a pledge from Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota to hold a vote in December regarding health subsidies.
“This was the only deal on the table. It was our best chance to reopen the government and immediately begin negotiations to extend the ACA tax credits that tens of millions of Americans rely on to keep costs down,” she said at a news conference Sunday night.
California’s two U.S. senators, Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, opposed the deal. Both are Democrats.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office, meanwhile, called the deal “pathetic.”
“This isn’t a deal. It’s a surrender. Don’t bend the knee!” his office posted on X.
But Kim, R-Anaheim Hills, doesn’t see it that way. She blamed Democrats for the shutdown and called the Senate bill a “commonsense measure” to reopen the government.
“This shutdown achieves nothing and hurts hard-working Americans,” Kim said. “Washington Democrats dragged our troops, TSA agents, federal workers — and our economy — through the mud for over 40 days just to placate their far-left base and derail the Republican agenda that is putting Americans first. This shutdown was a crisis of their own making, and it must end now.”
Rep. Jay Obernolte, a Republican who represents parts of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Kern counties, could not immediately be reached for comment about whether he plans to vote for the Senate bill. But on Friday, he urged Congress to reopen the government.
“Today, Senate Democrats voted down a bill to pay our essential federal workers, including air traffic controllers and TSA agents. As a result, travelers are now facing widespread flight delays and cancellations across the country. It’s time to put partisan politics aside and reopen the government!” Obernolte wrote in an X post on Friday, Nov. 7.
The federal government shutdown began on Oct. 1 and is the longest on record.
With millions of Americans who rely on government food assistance through SNAP struggling, massive air travel disruptions due to cuts by the Federal Aviation Administration and federal employees having paychecks withheld, members of Congress are facing pressure to reopen the government.
But for many Democrats in Washington, a guarantee that ACA health care subsidies will be extended after this year has remained their top priority.
The health care tax credits have made coverage more affordable for low- and middle-income people who purchase it through state or federal marketplaces. Without an extension, on average, that coverage will more than double next year what subsidized enrollees currently pay for premiums, an analysis from KFF found.
A recent survey from KFF, a nonpartisan health policy organization, found that most do want some sort of extension of the subsidies.
Overall, 74% of those polled said they’d like an extension. When broken down by party, 94% of Democrats backed a continuation of the tax credits, as did 76% of independents and 50% of Republicans. The poll noted Republican support has waned since the last survey in September; then, 59% of Republicans supported an extension, along with 92% of Democrats and 82% of independents.
That KFF survey, conducted Oct. 27 to Nov. 2, polled 1,350 adults in the U.S. It has a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.