In a wide-ranging sit-down interview with MSNBC, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Wednesday night that he has privately told Democratic leaders that, if they need a vote on extending Obamacare subsidies in exchange for opening the government, he’s willing to make that deal.
“We can guarantee you get a vote by a date certain,” Thune said. “At some point, Democrats have to take ‘yes’ for an answer.”
In his most direct comments yet about giving Democrats some type of assurances to end the shutdown, Thune suggested he supported extending the subsidies if they “included reforms.”
Asked whether he was just guaranteeing a negotiation over expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies — which Democrats have said isn’t good enough for them to support a Republican funding bill — Thune said there was “a path forward, I believe.”
“Can I guarantee an outcome? No,” he said.
“I can’t guarantee it’s going to pass,” he said of a bill to extend the subsidies. “I can guarantee you that there will be a process and you will get a vote.”
That still might not be good enough for Democrats, who are increasingly distrustful that Republicans ever intend to extend the Obamacare subsidies.
Even as the shutdown crosses into its third week and government workers miss their first paycheck, Democrats are showing little sign of cracking. In fact, Democrats seem to be digging in, particularly as Republicans sound increasingly dubious about extending the Obamacare subsidies.
But Thune struck a more sympathetic tone about rising premiums than other GOP leaders — who have recently cast doubt about ever addressing the expiring tax credits — telling MSNBC that he doesn’t want people’s premiums to drastically increase.
Thune, however, was clear that he’d need changes to the current subsidies, specifically mentioning income caps to qualify for the lower Obamacare premiums. And he wouldn’t commit to support a one-year extension of the subsidies that would cost only $35 billion a year. (The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the program costs $350 billion to $488 billion over the next decade.)
That’s unlikely to comfort Democrats. And Thune seemed to surmise as much.
Asked about the prospect of the shutdown’s continuing until Thanksgiving, his response didn’t rule it out.
“I hope it doesn’t last through Thanksgiving,” he said.
