Another US government shutdown is possibly coming.
From the Hill News website, US senators from both parties are preparing for another shutdown next year after Republicans blocked a proposal to extend health insurance subsidies that expire in January, a situation that has already caused a 43-day shutdown of the federal government.
According to the US Congressional news website, liberal Democrats in the Senate are furious with Republicans for blocking the extension of health insurance subsidies until 2028.
A group of eight mostly moderate Democrats voted to reopen the government last month in hopes of a Republican compromise to prevent double-digit increases in health insurance premiums. But now bipartisan talks on extending health insurance subsidies have collapsed.
Senator Bernie Sanders, a prominent progressive figure in the Senate Democratic faction, called the Republican vote against extending health insurance subsidies “disrespectful.”
When asked whether Democrats should threaten another government shutdown to pressure Republicans to agree to extend the subsidies, he said he didn’t want to speculate, but added that the expiration of the subsidies could cause a lot of pain and suffering for the American people.
According to Hill, the failure of Congress to extend the health subsidies means that nearly 4.8 million Americans will lose their health care coverage in 2026, and more than 20 million people will see their health care costs increase significantly.
Insurance companies are expected to charge people covered by the subsidies 26 percent more if they expire in January 2026 (D-1404).
Another member of the Senate Democratic faction, who asked not to be named, said: If Republicans do not agree to pass a package of regular spending bills (Minibus) by the end of next month, another government shutdown is likely.
On the other hand, Democratic senators say that if the Senate appropriations package, which includes the departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Labor, Commerce, Justice and State and other agencies, is passed next month, Democrats will have much less leverage to pressure the government.
If US President Donald Trump signs the package, it is said that nearly 85% of the federal government’s budget will be funded until September 2026 (Shahrivar 1405), and Democrats will have much less leverage to threaten a government shutdown to convince Republicans to extend government subsidies; an issue that in October (Ochhar) caused the longest government shutdown in US history. But if these bills stall, the likelihood of a government shutdown increases sharply.
Republican Senator John Cornyn warned that Democrats could resort to another shutdown strategy if most of the annual appropriations bills remain pending by the end of January 2026.
He predicted that Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer would be under intense pressure from liberals to force another shutdown.
Cornyn warned of another shutdown if he could not reach a bipartisan agreement on the regular budget bills, saying he was “scared of the Democratic base.”
Susan Collins, another Republican senator and chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, also expressed concern about another shutdown if the five-bill spending package (Minibus) is not passed after the start of the new year.
Minibus bills are a type of budget package that combines several funding bills and presents them in one large package instead of passing them one by one.