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Michigan Advance: Michigan Democrats decry GOP budget as assault on health care amid federal shutdown

For Michigan’s Democrats in the U.S. House, the federal government shutdown comes down to one issue — health care affordability. 

In a joint press conference held Wednesday morning, hours after Congress missed the deadline to pass a federal budget, all six of the state’s Democratic representatives expressed concerns about rising health care costs, specifically the exclusion of an extension to the Affordable Care Act tax credits in Republican budget proposals. 

“We hear Republicans over and over all saying that they want to restore the ACA [Affordable Care Act] tax credits,” said U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Bay City). “Put it on the floor, and we can end this tomorrow.”

“We are here because at some point you’ve got to fight for your constituents,” said U.S. Rep Debbie Dingell (D-Ann Arbor). “Our colleagues appear that they’d rather shut down the government than make health care more affordable and address the affordability crisis we’re all hearing about every day.”

Each representative on the call described the rapidly rising health care premiums for their constituents. Those costs have become a defining issue for Democrats from across the country as federal funds expire. 

“This is a spinning out of control reality for our state, and it’s not acceptable,” said U.S. Rep Haley Stevens (D-Birmingham). “Michigan families expect us to do our jobs, and that means passing a responsible budget. That means holding the line on rising health care costs.”

They also pushed back against claims by GOP leadership, including President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, that health care benefits were going to benefit illegal immigrants.

“Instead of sitting down and talking about the issues, they’re distracting with this lie,” said U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-Grand Rapids).

Members of Congress on the call were also critical of their Republican colleagues for what they called a lack of effort to negotiate or work towards a responsible budget. 

“My colleagues not showing up yesterday, standing on the House floor was very shocking to me as they motioned to just adjourn,” U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) said. 

U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly), who voted against a continuing resolution put forward by Republicans, shared similar concerns to her House colleagues in a press release, writing, “Since July, I have been very clear: any conversation about my vote needs to start with health care. President Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ will result in every single Michigander either losing their health care or paying more than they already have.”

Trump has said that instead of temporary furloughs of non-essential federal workers during the government shutdown, his administration will pursue permanent layoffs of these government employees. The actual ramifications of this have yet to become clear, but the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office predicted that around 750,000 government workers will be furloughed due to the shutdown. 

Dingell addressed the impacts of the shutdown on federal workers, saying, “None of us makes this decision lightly, but in the end, we’re gonna protect the people that we represent.”

U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Detroit) added, “We cannot blink, we cannot compromise on providing health care to the people that need this care, life saving treatments, life saving medications.”

Michigan’s U.S. House Republicans have placed the blame for the shutdown squarely on the shoulders of Democrats in social media posts, but Democrats in their press conference called it a “Republican shutdown,” noting that the GOP currently controls the White House and both houses of Congress.