WASHINGTON – The Trump Administration told congressional leaders it'll still fund ObamaCare subsidies inside a move that greatly lessens the probabilities for a government shutdown.
Two Democratic congressional sources said President Trump is no longer threatening to withhold the instalments – worth about $7 billion a year – so he can strike an offer on a spending bill to help keep the federal government running past Friday.
“It is good that once again obama appears to be backing off his threat to carry health care and government funding hostage,” said Democratic Senate leader Charles Schumer.
The assurances for ObamaCare payments come each day after Trump dropped funding demands for any border wall with Mexico. Now Democratic leaders say they are much closer to a deal to avoid a shutdown Saturday — Trump’s 100th day at work.
“Our major concerns in these negotiations have been about funding for the wall and uncertainty about the CSR [Cost Saving Reduction] payments crucial to the stability from the marketplaces under the Affordable Care Act,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said. “We’ve now made progress on of those fronts.”
The ObamaCare standoff began earlier Wednesday when House Speaker Paul Ryan said the spending bill wouldn't include the cost sharing payments Democrats wanted.
“We're not doing that,” Ryan said following a closed-door ending up in his GOP caucus.
ObamaCare payments should be addressed separately through the Trump administration and never be a bargaining chip in the spending bill, Ryan insisted.
