[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 165 (Tuesday, October 7, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6962-S6964]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Government Funding

  Mr. President, now on a different subject, the shutdown, yesterday, 
for the fifth time--the fifth time--the Republican CR failed to secure 
enough votes to pass in this Chamber.
  After five failed votes, Republicans should understand they cannot go 
forward unless we come to a bipartisan agreement to address the 
healthcare crisis facing America.
  The shutdown has now lasted almost a week--the Trump-caused 
shutdown--and Republicans are still in the no-negotiation, ``our way or 
the highway'' mode.
  President Trump, meanwhile, is not taking this shutdown seriously. 
Listen to this: Instead of fixing healthcare, instead of reopening the 
government, Donald Trump seems more interested in sending money to 
other countries instead of focusing on the problems here at home. His 
administration is in negotiation right now to send a $20 billion 
bailout to Argentina--right in the middle of a government shutdown. You 
have got to be kidding.
  Does the administration really want us to believe there is not enough 
money for air traffic controllers, not enough money to fix the ACA 
healthcare premiums, but there somehow is $20 billion available to bail 
out

[[Page S6963]]

Argentina because Trump likes the government's leader there? Give me a 
break. It shows you that this administration and Republicans are not 
serious enough when it comes to people's healthcare and when it comes 
to ending their shutdown.
  So this crisis will not end by sending $20 billion to Argentina. We 
need to get serious about fixing the problems here at home, starting 
with healthcare.
  Democrats--our position has not changed. We want the same thing that 
an overwhelming majority of Americans want, which is to end this 
shutdown and halt the healthcare crisis that will send premiums spiking 
for tens of millions of people. Eighty percent of Americans want to 
extend the ACA tax credits. Fifty-eight percent of Trump voters want to 
extend those credits.
  We need to end this shutdown and halt the healthcare crisis, and we 
can do both. It is not either-or, as some Republicans seem to think.
  We have been wanting to talk to the President and Republicans, have 
serious negotiations with the President and Republicans, for months. 
Finally, after months and months of asking Leader Thune and Speaker 
Johnson to sit down with Hakeem Jeffries and me and asking the 
President to sit down with us--where he said yes, and then he said no--
finally, at the last minute, the President agreed to have one meeting 
right the night before money was running out, but it was not a 
productive discussion, and nothing was agreed to.
  Now, yesterday, President Trump claimed that he is talking with 
Democrats on fixing healthcare. He now clearly knows that he has to 
show the American people at least some fig leaf of caring. So he said 
he is talking with Democrats on the healthcare issue. Only one problem: 
It is not true. I am not sure what the President was talking about 
yesterday, but he certainly hasn't called my office or Leader Jeffries.
  Still, Jeffries and I happily welcome a chance to talk with the 
President and with Republicans, to sit down and seriously negotiate 
with them so we can address the healthcare crisis facing Americans--the 
sooner the better. But it takes two sides to negotiate, and 
Republicans--particularly Speaker Johnson, who seems to be the nub of 
the crisis--still haven't come to the table in a serious way.
  Speaker Johnson, perhaps more than anyone else, has dug in and shut 
the door on any cooperation. Johnson has become a massive roadblock to 
progress.
  Yesterday, he even said:

       There's nothing to negotiate.

  He sent the House home for yet another week. The House hasn't held a 
vote now for 18 days. They haven't been in session for 2 weeks. That 
proves beyond a doubt that Speaker Johnson is causing and not 
interested in ending the shutdown. Clearly, at this point, he--he--is 
the main obstacle.
  Ending this shutdown will require Donald Trump to step in and push 
Speaker Johnson to negotiate because without the President's 
involvement, Speaker Johnson and MAGA Republicans in the House are 
increasingly dug in. Johnson has pushed this partisan, one-sided CR and 
told us to take it or leave it.
  I heard my friend Leader Thune say it is a bipartisan bill, although 
there hasn't been one drop of Democratic input. You can't call that a 
bipartisan bill; it is a partisan bill.
  Anyway, Johnson pushed this partisan, one-sided CR and said: Take it 
or leave it. I am going home.
  He has shut the House down now--the House of Representatives--for 3 
weeks, and he has said he won't bring the House back until the Senate 
Democrats cave to his demands.
  He also continues to outright lie--lie--about Democrats trying to 
give undocumented immigrants health insurance through ACA or Medicaid 
or Medicare. That was a lie yesterday. It is a lie today. It will be a 
lie tomorrow. He knows that, and yet he is still saying it to distract 
from the real issue. He doesn't want to solve the crisis of healthcare 
premiums, so he makes up these lies, and he hopes it will divert 
people's attention.
  It is not diverting our attention, Speaker Johnson. We know you are 
lying, and we are paying attention to what the American people need.
  Every action the Speaker has taken has been geared toward avoiding 
having to confront the core issue at hand, which is to fix people's 
healthcare.
  So why is he doing this? Well, in part, he doesn't want to come back. 
He cares more about protecting the Epstein files than protecting the 
American people from the healthcare crisis. But, also, he has a very 
big problem. His problem is that House Republicans--his own caucus--are 
bitterly divided on healthcare. On one hand, a large number within his 
conference will never agree to any extension of the ACA premium tax 
credits. They are against it. But there is also a growing number of 
House Republicans who realize something needs to be done to fix this 
mess.
  Listen to this: Marjorie Taylor Greene--one of the hardest right MAGA 
loyalist--broke with the Speaker and said we need to fix these ACA tax 
credits. Let me read what she said. This is not Chuck Schumer; this is 
Marjorie Taylor Greene:

       I'm going to go against everyone on this issue because when 
     the tax credits expire this year my own adult children's 
     insurance premiums for 2026 are going to DOUBLE, along with 
     all the wonderful families and hard-working people in my 
     district.

  So hold on to your hats. I think this is the first time I have said 
this, but on this issue, Representative Greene said it perfectly. 
Representative Greene is absolutely right.
  Republicans can't sit by and do nothing while American families pay 
thousands more out of pocket for healthcare. If the Speaker doesn't 
relent and these credits expire, people will go bankrupt; people will 
get sick; some will die.
  Inaction would be reprehensible, and the Speaker needs to realize 
that. That is why, when push comes to shove, Donald Trump needs to step 
in and get Speaker Johnson and Republicans in Congress to come to the 
table and engage in real negotiations to address this issue.
  Democrats stand ready and willing to negotiate. We urge Donald Trump 
and congressional Republicans to do the same.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sheehy). The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, the American people reject what is going 
on here, and that is the Schumer shutdown. We are now in day 7 of the 
Schumer shutdown--7 days of wasted time and growing hardship for the 
American people.
  There is a new Harvard-Harris poll that has just come out, and it 
makes it loud and clear. And what is loud and clear is that 7 in 10 
voters in America oppose the government shutdown. Americans 
overwhelmingly say Democrats should accept a continuing resolution at 
the current levels of funding until the actual spending bills are 
passed. It is interesting because 13 times in the Biden administration, 
the Democrats did exactly that, and it is the thing they are refusing 
to do right now.
  Americans don't want their government closed. They want it open. They 
want it to work for them. They want a nation that is safe and secure 
and prosperous. They are sick and tired of Democrats holding them 
hostage with partisan and unreasonable demands.
  What do the Democrats want? What did their demand letter say? It said 
they want free healthcare for illegal immigrants. This is opposed by an 
overwhelmingly large number of Americans.
  The Democrats shut down the government, and they think they are 
hurting President Trump. In fact, the Schumer shutdown is hurting 
people all across America. Across this country, Americans are feeling 
the pain.
  There are headlines that tell the story, and I have a few here. One 
in New York says ``Gov't shutdown threatens food access for Long 
Island's most vulnerable.'' Another in Nevada says ``Government 
shutdown threatens food stamps, jobs, national security.'' In New 
Jersey, one reads ``Hospital-at-home, telehealth programs on hold amid 
government shutdown.'' In New

[[Page S6964]]

Hampshire: ``At least 1,800 NH federal workers to be furloughed or 
fired during shutdown.''
  They are not statistics. These are families. These are our troops. 
These are seniors. These are veterans. These are mothers with young 
children, working families, patients all across the country. And the 
stresses upon American families are mounting as a result of the Schumer 
shutdown.
  Paychecks for our servicemembers--well, they run out in days. Reports 
already show there are signs of financial distress. Every day this shut 
down continues, the damage drags on. Financial stress will lead to 
financial crises for many families. Temporary hardships will lead to 
lasting harm. The American people don't want it. They can't afford it. 
They want it to end.
  Democrats have now voted five specific times to keep the government 
closed. Now all you need to do is read their ransom note. Democrats are 
demanding taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegal immigrants. And who do 
they want to hurt in the process? They want to cut the funding for 
rural hospitals in my State and yours. That is how they want to pay for 
healthcare for illegal immigrants. That is their price to reopen the 
government, to get back to the normal workings of Washington and our 
government. As a result, the Democrats are holding the American people 
hostage.

  There is a simple solution to the shutdown. The House passed a clean 
continuing resolution--current spending levels, bipartisan support--to 
fund the government through November 21. Why November 21? Well, I just 
heard the minority leader say there has been no discussion between 
Republicans or Democrats on the continuing resolution. Well, in fact, 
there has been, and it is the deadline date of November 21 because the 
chairs and the ranking members of the Senate Appropriations Committee 
and the House Appropriations Committee all said they needed 7 weeks to 
finish the bipartisan work on the appropriations bills. So, yes. 
Senator Collins, Senator Murray worked together on the clean continuing 
resolution.
  It is interesting because what we see are the Democrats fearing the 
wrath of the far-left wing of their party. That is why they are not 
voting to open the government.
  The clock continues to tick. Every day Democrats hold out is another 
day wasted, another day we ought to be making sure the government is 
open. I hear the Democrats say they want to negotiate. Well, open the 
government. We are ready to negotiate. Every day the Democrats choose 
to keep the government closed is another day spent ignoring and 
rejecting the priorities of the American people. If Democrats actually 
wanted to negotiate, they would reopen the government today. It is that 
simple.
  So, today, we are going to vote for the sixth time on a clean 
continuing resolution, something the Democrats approved 13 times when 
Joe Biden was President. Senate Democrats have a choice: Vote yes to 
end the Schumer shutdown or vote no, and tell the American people why 
their pain and their opinion just doesn't matter to the Democrats.
  Let me end where I began: 7 out of 10 Americans oppose this shutdown. 
Americans overwhelmingly say Democrats should accept the clean 
continuing resolution that we are voting on here today. The American 
people have spoken. They want their government open, and they want it 
open now. It is time that the Democrats listened to them.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.