Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday there are no pending bipartisan talks over expiring health insurance subsidies despite a claim from President Donald Trump.
The president said in Oval Office comments to reporters Monday that “we have a negotiation going on right now with the Democrats that could lead to very good things … with regard to health care.” He later reiterated “we are speaking with the Democrats” on health care but did not specify with whom.
But Schumer said in a statement that “Trump’s claim isn’t true — but if he’s finally ready to work with Democrats, we’ll be at the table.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries separately told reporters that the White House had “gone radio silent” since an Oval Office meeting a week ago. “Neither Leader Schumer or myself have heard a word from the administration about resolving this issue,” he said.
Democrats have made extending the expiring subsidies — available for insurance plans offered on Affordable Care Act exchanges — a central demand in the ongoing government shutdown fight. They have pushed Republicans to negotiate but GOP leaders on Capitol Hill have said they must first reopen government agencies.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier Monday that Trump was not talking to Democrats amid the shutdown standoff. Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday he had spoken to Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democratic appropriator, about moving full-year spending bills — not about health care. Murray declined to discuss the call Monday but said she did not initiate the conversation.
GOP senators have said the White House is being kept in the loop about the contours of what is being discussed by a bipartisan group of senators who are hunting for a way out of the shutdown.
“If President Trump and Republicans are finally ready to sit down and get something done in healthcare for American families, Democrats will be there — ready to make it happen,” Schumer said Monday.
Nicholas Wu contributed to this report.