For some, the 2025 theatrics of Washington, D.C., may seem like a ridiculous clown show thousands of miles away, physically and politically. But the recent government shutdown proves just how closely the two Washingtons are connected.
Republicans in Congress, under the marching orders of President Donald Trump, refused to extend tax credits — valued at about $1,300 a year — for 24 million people to allow them to continue to afford health insurance under the Affordable Care Act; Democrats in Congress, in an effort to keep Obamacare affordable, refused to support the resolution that would have kept the federal government open but left millions unable to pay for medical insurance. They also demand the restoration of deep cuts to Medicaid.
The result? Expected delays in funding for federal programs that Washingtonians rely on, such as the roughly 920,000 people who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits (formerly known as food stamps) and the thousands who receive benefits from the Women, Infants and Children Nutrition Program, including 25,000 in King County alone. Should the shutdown drag out for several weeks, delayed food stamp funding would also put a strain on nonprofit food banks and other emergency services.
In addition, there will likely be delays in federal grants that help support local and state programs.
The main sticking point, however, is with the extension of the Affordable Care Act subsidies. About 280,000 Washingtonians receive the subsidies that were expanded during the pandemic. They are set to expire at the end of the year. Democrats want to extend them for another nine years, which would cost about $350 billion. Without the extension, those who use Obamacare could see their premiums double during open enrollment this fall.
Republicans say that ending the subsidies is a matter of budget-tightening, needed in part because Democrats have allowed undocumented people to access ACA benefits. This is untrue; people living in the U.S. who are undocumented do not qualify for Medicaid or tax credits for use in the health care exchanges. (Some states provide fully state-funded medical care for some undocumented individuals, but even those programs are being rolled back, according to NPR.) And, contrast the cost to keep people medically insured with the $150 billion Republicans have approved for Immigration and Customs Enforcement over the next four years — more than double its previous allocation.
“When people can’t afford to pay their health insurance and become uninsured, it affects the cost for everyone else,“ said U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-WA, on Thursday. Not only does it increase the price for those with private insurance, many who can’t afford insurance without the subsidy will still need health care and it will be uncompensated, shifting the cost.
“When people don’t have health insurance, they skip preventive care,” said Dr. Sandra Valenciano, King County’s health officer, on Friday.
Pushing people off Obamacare will ultimately push people into public clinics and emergency rooms, ovestressing a system that is already overburdened.
But this shutdown — the second under a Trump administration — isn’t your father’s shutdown. Past spending impasses have involved disagreements on policy or shifting of dollars. The current shutdown has been packed with threats, vitriol, political payback and mean-spiritedness.
Trump’s administration has announced it will withhold $2.1 billion of Congress-approved funding for infrastructure projects in Chicago and $18 billion for transportation projects in New York. In addition, Trump has bragged that his administration will use the time during the shutdown to determine “which of the Democrat agencies” can be cut, adding, “I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity.”
Meanwhile, as the shutdown continues, Trump and members of Congress will continue to be paid, while thousands of others, including members of the military, will have to go without pay.
While lawmakers try to hold out until the other side of the aisle blinks, voters should lean in to what is playing out miles away. Learn more about how our dollars are being allocated. Let members of Congress — even the ones that don’t represent Washington — know what matters most.
Above all, read, learn, remember — and when it comes time, vote.
