Schumer's proposal to end the government shutdown: renew ACA subsidies and create a bipartisan committee to negotiate them thoroughly

As Washington, DC, goes through the longest government shutdown in history, Chuck Schumer (D-NY) made a new Democratic proposal to secure his party's votes and end the shutdown. Through a speech made on the Senate floor, the Democratic leader assured that all that would be missing would be for Republicans to say "yes."

Due to the Senate filibuster rule, 60 votes are needed to reopen the government. Currently, the Republican majority of 53 senators alone is not enough to do so. Therefore, the Republicans in the Upper House need at least seven Democrats on board, and so far, they have only gotten two.

In this context, and as Schumer argued, the failed Republican proposals mark that a "different" strategy needs to be adopted to get the government back on track.

Therefore, he offered to extend for one year the subsidies of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and create a bipartisan committee to further negotiate how to address subsidies after the reopening. Previously, Republicans had made clear that negotiations would resume after the shutdown ended.

"Democrats are ready to clear the way to quickly pass a government funding bill that includes healthcare affordability. Leader Thune just needs to add a clean, one-year extension of the [Obamacare] tax credits to the CR so that we can immediately address rising health care costs. That's not a negotiation. It's an extension of current law, something we do all the time around here."

"Democrats have said we must address the health care crisis, but Republicans have repeatedly said they won’t negotiate to lower the health care costs until the government reopens. (...) So let’s find a path to honor both positions. Now the ball is in the Republicans' court. We need Republicans to just say 'yes,'" he added.

The offer came after days of intense discussions (public and private) in Senate offices. Thune's previous plan included a vote for a continuing resolution through January, the inclusion of three spending bills (known as a 'minibus'), and a commitment to hold a vote to extend Obamacare subsidies.

The talks between the two sides ended Thursday, when Democrats decided to unify behind a single bill, precisely the one introduced by Schumer on the floor.