Colorado Democrats in Congress called on Republicans to negotiate a bipartisan funding bill that extends health insurance tax credits to reopen the federal government.

In a press call Wednesday, the lawmakers said the government is shut down solely because Republicans, who control the White House, U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, refuse to negotiate a compromise with Democrats.

Members in the Senate failed to reach an agreement on a short-term government funding measure, known as a continuing resolution, before the end of the fiscal year, meaning many major federal government operations shut down starting Oct. 1. The last government shutdown occurred during President Donald Trump’s first term and lasted 35 days, from late 2018 into early 2019. The current shutdown could last longer and have a wider effect.

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Democrats won’t support Republicans’ funding proposals until they restore “at least some portion of the health care they took away” in the July megabill Trump signed into law, Hickenlooper said.

“We’re asking this administration to take basic action to restore Americans’ health care,” Hickenlooper said. “So far, Republicans don’t appear even to listen … they’re not even doing the bare minimum.”

Trump regularly said he would lower costs for working people, Hickenlooper said, but that hasn’t happened, and he instead continues to “mislead Americans.”

Addressing health care costs is urgent because premium notices for next year will start going out soon, U.S. Representative Diana DeGette of Denver said. For a family of four in Colorado with an annual income of $64,000, DeGette said premium costs will increase more than $2,500. U.S. Representative Brittany Pettersen of Lakewood said open enrollment for those seeking Affordable Care Act plans also starts soon, and those plans will cost two to three times what they have over the last year.

Cost increases will be worse for those on the Western Slope, DeGette added. U.S. Representative Joe Neguse of Lafayette, whose district includes Western Slope communities in Eagle, Grand and Summit counties, said his constituents could pay some of the highest health insurance rates in the country if tax credits are not renewed.

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We’re asking this administration to take basic action to restore Americans’ health care ... So far, Republicans don't appear even to listen … they’re not even doing the bare minimum.

The enhanced premium tax credits implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic were initially set to expire in 2022, but Congress extended and expanded them with the Inflation Reduction Act. According to KFF, insurance providers have cited the expiration of the tax credits as a reason for premium increases.

Some House Republicans proposed a one-year extension of the enhanced tax credits, but DeGette said House Speaker Mike Johnson “immediately shot it down from his own members.”

It’s “deeply disappointing” that Republicans “target the immigrant community” and spread misinformation saying Democrats want to fund health care for people who are in the country without authorization, Pettersen said. Tax credits only go to lawful citizens and residents who pay taxes, she said.

“The Republicans know this, and their rhetoric is incredibly disturbing that they continue to spread lies and misinformation around this,” Pettersen said.

During previous shutdowns, federal agencies had designated people available to help constituents, but that isn’t happening at all during this shutdown, DeGette said. For example, she said Social Security isn’t responding to any calls from her office. Pettersen said her office was told the agencies won’t respond to any constituent request “unless it’s life or death.”

Shutdown puts stress on federal workers

Neguse said he spent Wednesday morning meeting with federal workers in his district who are “being unfairly impacted by the shutdown that House Republicans, Senate Republicans and the Trump administration have engineered.”

He said Republicans, with their trifecta control of the federal government, “have an obligation to fund the government” and negotiate with Democrats.

“I know that me and my colleagues gathered today would certainly relish that opportunity,” Neguse said. “To negotiate in good faith on a bipartisan agreement that funds the government, opens the government, and addresses the health care crisis that they have created.”

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Pettersen said the government was set up to work in a bipartisan manner and that Republicans were unwilling to work with Democrats to avoid a shutdown. Her district includes the Denver Federal Center, where she said about 6,000 federal employees work daily, and morale is low “with the way that they have been demonized since Trump took office.”

Staffing shortages at the Denver International Airport are further exacerbated during the shutdown, DeGette said, with many Transportation Security Administration employees working mandatory overtime.

U.S. Representative Jason Crow of Centennial said every year he has been in Congress it has passed a bipartisan budget.

“We haven’t always got everything we wanted, both sides, so it was a compromise,” Crow said. “But we’ve never faced anything like this before where they are trying to cut, slash health care entirely for millions of Americans and then radically increase the premiums for tens of millions more.”

Crow said the Trump administration wants Congress to approve “a blank check” so the federal government can send military troops “and declare war on cities” in America and “continue abuse by federal officers on our immigrant and refugee communities.” He said Republicans want to “destroy agencies and fundamental government services.”

In a speech to military leaders, Trump suggested that American cities should be used as “training grounds” for the armed forces. Trump has already deployed National Guard troops to Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Portland, Oregon, and other American cities to support immigration enforcement and “law and order.”