Congresswoman Emily Randall leads nearly 150 House Democratic Colleagues in Demanding Speaker Johnson End Government Shutdown

WASHINGTON, DC - As the federal government shutdown enters its second week, Congresswoman Emily Randall (WA-06) today led a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson demanding he immediately reconvene the House, join Democrats at the negotiating table, and commit to permanently extending the Affordable Care Act's Enhanced Premium Tax Credits before millions of Americans are priced out of health care coverage.

The letter, signed by 143 members of Congress, comes as ACA marketplace open enrollment begins on November 1, and families are already receiving devastating premium increase notices from insurance companies that will go into effect if Congress fails to act.

"This shutdown isn't just Republican obstruction - it's a direct threat to the health and financial security of millions of families," said Congresswoman Randall. "I've heard from neighbors who need cancer treatments, caregivers of family members with disabilities, and single parents struggling to make ends meet. They all have one thing in common: without these tax credits, they simply cannot afford their health insurance. Speaker Johnson's refusal to even meet with us is a betrayal of his duty to the American people."

The letter stresses that Congress cannot wait until the credits officially expire on December 31 - by then, countless Americans will have already been forced to go without health insurance because they can no longer afford it.

"In stark contrast to his choice to call back the House from recess to pass tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations, Speaker Johnson canceled votes for the second week in a row while hardworking Americans are watching their health care slip away," Randall continued. "Democrats have shown up in D.C. during this shutdown, ready to work, ready to negotiate in good faith, and ready to find a bipartisan path forward. It's time for the Speaker to do his job - bring the House back into session and join us at the negotiating table."

The letter warns that forcing Americans to forgo health coverage will strain an already overburdened health care system, resulting in more costly emergency room visits and dire health outcomes - particularly following passage of the Big Ugly Law.

"Every day of inaction is another day that families in Washington's 6th District and across the country lose sleep worrying about how they'll afford their medications, doctor visits, and chemo treatments," said Randall. "This is exactly why I ran for Congress - to fight for my neighbors and protect health care access and affordability. I refuse to give up, and I refuse to look away while Speaker Johnson plays politics with people's lives."

Full text of the letter is available here.

The letter was cosigned by: Reps. Adams, Amo, Ansari, Balint, Barragán, Beatty, Bell, Bera, Beyer, Bishop, Bonamici, Brownley, Brown, Budzinski, Bynum, Carbajal, Casten, Castor, Castro, Cherfilus-McCormick, Chu, Cisneros, Clarke, Cleaver, Congressional Hispanic Caucus - Rep. Espaillat, Craig, Crockett, Crow, Cuellar, DelBene, Deluzio, DeSaulnier, Dexter, Dingell, Doggett, Elfreth, Escobar, Evans, Figures, Foster, Foushee, Frankel, Friedman, Garcia, Garcia, Gonzalez, Goodlander, Gray, Green, Hayes, Himes, Horsford, Houlahan, Hoyle, Huffman, Ivey, Jackson, Jacobs, Jayapal, Johnson, Johnson, Kamlager-Dove, Kaptur, Kelly, Kennedy, Khanna, Landsman, Larsen, Lee, Summer; Lee, Susie; Leger Fernandez, Liccardo, Lieu, Lynch, Magaziner, Mannion, McBath, McClain Delaney, McClellan, McCollum, McGarvey, McGovern, McIver, Menendez, Meng, Min, Moore, Morrison, Moskowitz, Mullin, Norcross, Norton, Olszewski, Panetta, Pappas, Pettersen, Pingree, Plaskett, Pocan, Pou, Pressley, Quigley, Ramirez, Randall, Raskin, Rivas, Ross, Ruiz, Salinas, Schakowsky, Scholten, Sewell, Sherman, Simon, Smith, Soto, Stansbury, Stevens, Strickland, Subramanyam, Takano, Thanedar, Thompson, Bennie; Thompson, Mike; Titus, Tlaib, Tokuda, Tonko, Torres, Trahan, Tran, Underwood, Vargas, Veasey, Velázquez, Vindman, Walkinshaw, Wasserman Schultz, Watson Coleman, Whitesides, Williams, Wilson