As Federal Shutdown Looms, Reed Blames Trump
GoLocalProv News Team
As Federal Shutdown Looms, Reed Blames Trump
U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) firmly blames President Donald Trump. Democrats like Reed have been trying to get the congressional Republicans and the Administration to restore federal healthcare funding and tax credits.
“Every Democrat voted to prevent millions of Americans from losing health care and to keep the government open. It’s time for President Trump to accept reality and avoid yet another Trump shutdown. But so far, Trump is dragging his feet, cancelling meetings, refusing to negotiate, and now threatening to fire even more Americans who work for the federal government,” said Reed in a statement earlier this week.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“Democrats have a plan for health care and the budget; Trump and the Republicans clearly don’t or they’d be at the table right now rather than threatening people’s livelihoods and their health care. In the days ahead, I expect Donald Trump to spend a lot of avoiding the truth and trying to blame everyone but himself. However, that doesn’t change the facts or fix the healthcare mess he created. Senate Republicans have already admitted that President Trump is the holdup, and all they need to resolve this issue is a green light from the White House to negotiate a bipartisan solution. Instead, Donald Trump, whose tariffs are hurting consumers and farmers, is going to try to inflict pain on innocent, hardworking Americans,” added Reed.
“Time is of the essence. The President signed a law slashing nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid just as open enrollment season rapidly approaches. If President Trump prevents Congress from acting, 25 million Americans who get their insurance through ACA exchanges will see premiums spike by about 75 percent. And millions more with employer-sponsored coverage could face equal or even higher price increases. Democrats are fighting to give these Americans an urgent and much-needed lifeline. Instead of shutting the government down, President Trump should start working toward a solution,” said Reed.
Trump's Latest Statement
“Nothing is inevitable, but I would say it’s probably likely,” Trump said on Tuesday of a shutdown, according to the Wall Street Journal. He said he could use a lapse in funding to flex his executive powers at Democrats’ expense. “We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible by them,” pointing to possible workforce and program cuts.
The shutdown is scheduled to begin at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday morning.