Rep. Sharice Davids seeks extension of health tax credit used by 160K Kansans
By TIM CARPENTER
Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall diagnosed the ongoing shutdown of the federal government as a malignancy infecting Democratic lawmakers.
The Kansas Republican, who was a physician in an obstetrics practice before elected to Congress, said Democrats at the Capitol were infected with “Trump derangement syndrome.”
“They have a hatred for President Trump that I’ve never seen,” Marshall said on a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate.
Marshall, who was among lawmakers skeptical of President Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in 2020, said an underlying issue was Democrats had yet to accept outcome of 2024 elections that placed Republicans in control of the House, Senate and White House.
“If you want to continue your liberal socialist policies, Democrats, win an election,” Marshall said.
He accused Democrats of using the shutdown that began Oct. 1 to play hypocritical games with U.S. health care policy. The most “failed system” and “biggest waste of money” is the Medicaid system that has enrolled about 400,000 Kansans, he said. The senator said Democrats were complicit in creating financial challenges that threaten rural hospitals in Kansas and other states.
The six-person Kansas congressional delegation — five Republicans, one Democrat — have shared views on the weeklong shutdown tied to failure to pass a short-term funding bill to finance government operations. Democrats conditioned support for a bill on extension of health subsidies that lowered the consumer cost of Affordable Care Act plans. Republicans say the shutdown must end before working on the tax credits for health insurance.
The House adopted a temporary funding bill, but the Senate hasn’t voted for a comparable bill allowing the government to function until Nov. 21.
“This is not a shutdown that makes any sense at all,” said U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas. “The American people — Kansans — deserve something different from the U.S. Senate. Every city council or commission, every school board, every local government office in my state passes a budget and then lives within that budget every year. Every local unit of government can figure this out, and the U.S. Senate is failing one more time.”
Moran, who has voted with Marshall to break the Senate’s deadlock, said the federal government shutdown “means uncertainty. A shutdown means dysfunction.”
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, the lone Democrat in the delegation, said Democrats in Congress were fighting to extend availability of ACA tax credits to keep health care affordable. More than 160,000 Kansans relied last year on tax credits the 3rd District representative said should be made permanent.
“Because congressional Republicans have refused to extend them, premiums could rise by $700 next year, putting thousands of Kansans at risk of paying more or losing coverage,” Davids said.
She said the shutdown would harm hardworking Kansans and the moment called for Republicans and Democrats to work together on a solution.
U.S. Rep. Derek Schmidt, a Republican serving the 2nd District in eastern Kansas, said the Senate ought to get behind the House-passed bipartisan bill. The approach would get the wheels of government moving and create time for the House and Senate to work on full-year appropriations bills, he said.
“Regrettably,” Schmidt said, “Senate Democrats are insisting on the inclusion of a $1.5 trillion wish list of additional reckless spending instead of passing the House’s continuing resolution. This shutdown is entirely the result of those unreasonable demands.”
U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann, a Republican in the mostly rural 1st District, said the shutdown was triggered by Democrats who wanted taxpayers to “pay for health care for illegal immigrants and authorize trillions of new dollars in federal spending.”
He complained Democrats would rather see Trump fail than work in a bipartisan manner to operate government.
“I understand that some in Washington prefer to grandstand and try to score political points rather than do what’s best for the country, but it is time to stop the political theater and work together to get our fiscal house in order,” Mann said.
U.S. Rep. Ron Estes, the 4th District congressman serving the Wichita area, said he had his congressional pay withheld due to the shutdown. He blamed U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, and his allies for the impasse.
“Republicans have done our job,” Estes said. “I hope my Democrat colleagues will put Americans first and end this shutdown soon.”