Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Sunday went after President Trump over the government shutdown, saying that the U.S. requires “a president who can act like an adult.”
“How confident are you that Democrats will stay united in this fight?” NBC News’s Kristen Welker asked Schiff on “Meet the Press” about the shutdown.
“I’m confident all Democrats understand that millions and millions of their constituents are about to be priced out of their health care. I was in California last week. In Oceanside and in Anaheim, average families of four are going to see the premiums go up by $900 to $1,000 a month,” Schiff replied.
“No one can afford that, and that’s going to happen all across the country. So, I think all my colleagues understand the crisis. We need a president who can act like an adult, who can come to the table, and negotiate an end to their self-imposed health care crisis. Right now we don’t see that,” he added.
The federal government shut down at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday after lawmakers failed to come to a deal on a stopgap spending bill. Since then, the Senate has voted on a House-passed funding stopgap three times, each time with just three members of the Democratic caucus breaking ranks and voting with Republicans to advance it.
Democrats are insisting that any stopgap bill must include provisions to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire at the end of the year, which would spike costs for insurance premiums for millions of poeple, while Republican leaders say they won’t negotiate on the credits until the government is open.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) last week said any deal to reopen the government lies with Trump, not just with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) or Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.).
“The bottom line on that is we need the president to be involved. Johnson and a whole lot of his caucus don’t like the ACA, don’t want to do the extensions. A lot of Republican senators in the Senate do but they’re not enough. Thune is not enough,” Schumer said.
“You need Johnson and particularly you need Donald Trump to get it done,” he added. “We need real improvements in Americans’ health care.”
At the same time, disagreements among Democrats have recently emerged on how to go about political messaging on the government shutdown as they fight with Republicans over whom the public should place blame on for the impasse.
Last week, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) raised eyebrows over posting a shutdown explainer including cats, resulting in criticism from some observers who labeled it “cringe.”
House Democrats also garnered criticism from inside and outside party circles over a marathon livestream that began early Wednesday morning.
The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.
