TRANSCRIPT: Leader Schumer Remarks Following Vote On Republicans’ Partisan CR As They Continue To Refuse To Negotiate On Government Funding Ahead Of A Shutdown And[...]

Washington, D.C. - Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today held a press conference following the failed vote on a Republican partisan continuing resolution to fund the government, condemning Republicans for refusing to negotiate and warning that their inaction will drive up healthcare costs for millions of Americans:

We see now Republicans are plunging America into a shutdown-rejecting bipartisan talks, pushing a partisan bill, and risking America's healthcare, worst of all. A few moments ago, Republicans once again rejected Democrats' proposals to avoid a shutdown, fix healthcare premiums, and spare Americans the calamity of skyrocketing, through-the-roof healthcare costs. Republicans blocked it again, once again.

So now, two times, Republicans have failed to get enough votes to avoid a shutdown. They've got to sit down and negotiate with Democrats to come to a bill that both parties can support. They didn't do that in the past. Their bill, they call it clean, we call it totally partisan. There was no input from Democrats; not a single line in their bill had input from Democrats. They never consulted us. Thune didn't consult me. Johnson didn't consult Hakeem. And the bottom line is that they had a partisan bill. You don't pass partisan bills, CRs.

When I was Majority Leader, we passed 13 of these bills, not one shutdown. You want to know why? It's because we negotiated with them. They didn't. And that's why they have failed now, twice.

Now why do we care so much about them negotiating with us? It's not a point of pride. It's because Americans are hurting with higher costs throughout the country. Some of its tariffs, some of its energy costs, some of its food costs. But one of the main reasons, and the one with the most immediate impact on raising Americans' costs-is skyrocketing healthcare cost, all done by the Republicans.

We have now learned that the premiums for those on the ACA, 24 million people, that's a huge number, will go up 114%. It's an average, depending on your income and depending on what your costs were, that average families can't afford. There are going to be millions of American families in the next week, in October, sitting down and saying, "How are we going to pay these damn bills? What do we have to cut to pay these bills? Or should we cut our health insurance or drop it altogether?" It's estimated over 4 million people will.

And why are those costs going up? Simply because the Republicans refused to extend the ACA credits. That's all. And you say, well, negotiate it with them? Well, we want to, but they rejected it three times in three different bills. And now it's on their backs.

And by the way, if you think people don't like it now, there's going to be a crescendo as through the beginning of October. The vast majority of Americans get those bills, and they're going to say, "What the heck are we going to do? We need healthcare, but we can't afford it."

The data shows that that's one of the most important things to the American people. So, we want to sit down and negotiate. But the Republicans can't do it in their partisan way, where they just say, "It's our way or the highway." We're not doing a thing to deal with the destruction that their healthcare bills have caused. Those bills are highly unpopular. In fact, Trump has talked about changing the name from "Big Beautiful Bill," he even mentioned it yesterday-because he knows how unpopular it is.

And they try to divert the subject, change the subject, and make up lies like saying, "Oh, we're giving this healthcare money to undocumented immigrants." They know damn well that the law is that no Medicare, Medicaid, or ACA funds can go to undocumented immigrants. They're so afraid to debate this issue. They have so many right-wingers in their caucus who don't want to do anything that they come up with these lies to divert attention.

Bottom line is we need to stop these premiums from going up dramatically. We need to do it now, not in October when people get the notices, not in November when they have to decide whether to drop healthcare or reduce the healthcare they get. And this is not a left, right, or center issue. This is to help the American people into one of the things they are most, most worried about.

So, we hope they sit down with us and talk. Otherwise, it's the Republicans who will be driving us straight towards a shutdown tonight, and at midnight the American people will blame them for bringing the federal government to a halt.

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Reporter: Just a short time ago, Leader Thune told us that there are some conversations with Democrats to try and bring them to their side. Also, you have Senator Cortez Masto, Senator King voting in favor of the Republican CR. Are you concerned about that at all and are you aware of any of these conversations?

Schumer: First, I'm concerned about Americans' healthcare. That's what we Democrats are concerned about. They're having real trouble. It's going to get a lot worse with this 114% increase, and we feel we're representing our constituents in the best way possible by insisting that Republicans come to the table. We certainly are willing to have negotiations. There's no problem with that. But they've got to be bipartisan, and they've got to have real input from both sides.

Reporter: Senator Thune says he wants to have a vote again, and again, and again on the Republican CR. So, can you guarantee with 100% certainty that that will never get 60 votes?

Schumer: Look, the bottom line is, as you said, our guarantee is to the American people that we're going to fight as hard as we can for their healthcare, plain and simple.

Reporter: Leader Thune just said before that he disagrees with the premise of the subsidies they were put in place during COVID, they shouldn't have been extended this far. Are you willing to take anything less, other than what you demanded in the bill?

Schumer: Look, the bottom line is we're not going to negotiate this bill in public. We need to come to a bipartisan solution that protects America's healthcare.

Reporter: What's your strategy for getting Republicans to negotiate this given that they haven't thus far?

Schumer: The strategy is the American people are demanding it, and they're going to demand it more and more on October 1st, October 2nd. They're going to keep demanding that we do something about this, and Republicans are feeling the heat. You have a good number of Senate Republicans and House Republicans, as was mentioned. When they talk to us privately, they say this is untenable. When I even sat with the president yesterday and explained to him about this, he said, "Oh, that's bad. That'll hurt me." So, the bottom line is the American people are making their voices known to the Republicans, and that's what we know is going to happen. Hopefully, they'll understand that and come to bipartisan solutions that help the American people.

Reporter: Yesterday, you said after the White House meeting that you told Trump and the Republicans that it would take two things from your bill and put them in to avoid a shutdown, that was the ACA credits and the provisions on impoundments and recissions. You did not mention the provision that would roll back the Medicaid cuts. Is that still a demand for Democrats or is that something you guys -

Schumer: Look, we care about everything. We care about healthcare across the board. I wanted to start off with the president with a couple of things, but it's not an exclusive list.

Reporter: With two additional Democrats voting for the Republican CR tonight, doesn't that undermine your leverage as you try to seek a negotiation with the Republicans?

Schumer: The bottom line is, again, what gives us the ability to win this argument with the American people is we're standing for what they want with healthcare, and they are not.

Thank you, everybody.

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