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Sen. Bill Cassidy urges reopening of government, calls Affordable Care Act "no longer affordable"
Summary
In a television interview, Sen. Bill Cassidy urged Senate Democrats to reopen the government and signaled support for a 7-week stopgap to resume negotiations, arguing the Affordable Care Act now requires unsustainably large subsidies and needs rollback to lower costs.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican senator from Louisiana and chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, urged leaders to reopen the federal government and called for talks to address rising health-care costs.
On the government shutdown, Cassidy said it "feels a little bit different because there's a complete breakdown of trust," and told the program that Sen. Chuck Schumer "could end this tomorrow" if he chose to, adding he hoped Schumer would act to avoid further pain for the American people.
Cassidy said Republicans have proposed a seven-week extension of the current budget to "allow dialogue to continue," noting that Congress used similar stopgap measures many times under the Biden administration. "That seven weeks kept the government open, allowed us to continue to negotiate," he said, arguing the pause would restore access to information and permit substantive talks on policy.
On health care, Cassidy said a pending premium increase is not certain, but warned the Affordable Care Act "has become the unaffordable care act," asserting the law relies on "huge subsidies" that he described as unsustainable. "We got to roll that back to a point where it's still affordable to Americans, but it doesn't require these huge subsidies," he said, framing his aim as lowering costs both on the exchanges and in private markets.
When asked whether moderate Democrats might back a clear stopgap funding measure, Cassidy said he had not spoken to them personally but expressed hope they would, saying the shutdown was "inflicting pain on the American people" and characterizing Schumer's stance as political pressure from his left wing.
Cassidy repeatedly emphasized that reopening the government is a prerequisite to meaningful negotiations. "First, you got to reopen the government," he said, adding that the 7-week extension idea would keep the government operating while lawmakers work on policy options.
The interview closed without a new agreement; Cassidy reiterated his commitment to lowering health-care costs as a long-standing priority and urged leaders to resume talks to avoid further interruption of federal services.
