September 29, 2025
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Federal Update / Shutdown Negotiations as of Monday morning, 9/29: Last week, President Trump abruptly cancelled a meeting with Congressional leaders (who were trying to get a deal to avert a federal shutdown). However, late Saturday night, President Trump reversed course (again) and agreed to a meeting at 3 pm today. The meeting will include Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Senate Republicans want Congress to pass a relatively clean Continuing Budget Resolution bill that will expand the expiration date of the current CR we are operating under, until November 21 where as the Senate Dems are looking for numerous concessions that focus on cancelling some $1 Trillion in cuts to Medicaid as enacted in the One Big Beautiful Bill, a permanent extension of premium tax credits millions of Americans utilize to purchase health insurance through their state or state/federal health insurance exchange, and an extension of some Medicare telehealth flexibilities another 30 days (from October 1). Apparently the reason Congress has not made telehealth coverage permanent is because of concerns over fraud. During the first year of the pandemic, when telehealth use skyrocketed, some doctors were flagged for questionable billing related to telehealth services affecting about 500,000 Medicare patients, according to a report from the Department of Health and Human Services’ inspector general. The IG has called for strong oversight to avert more problems. The Department of Justice also recently charged 49 defendants for telemedicine and genetic testing schemes that cost over $1.17 billion. The Senate is back in Washington today, but their House counterparts cancelled the previously scheduled session for today and tomorrow to try to force Senate Democrats to accept their plan. Congressional Democrats have, belatedly, remained firm in their demand for increased healthcare funding and an extension of Obamacare subsidies in exchange for any Democratic votes on the “clean” seven-week continuing resolution. At a press conference last week, Jeffries offered, “There’s no trust that exists between House Democrats and House Republicans at this particular point in time, given the fact that they’ve consistently tried to undermine bipartisan agreements that they themselves have reached. Any agreement related to protecting the health care of the American people has to be ironclad and in legislation.” |
Here’s the latest from Politico Pro this morning: |
Mike Johnson and John Thune are poised to hold their ground as Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries press for a compromise on health policy, including an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies that expire at the end of the year.
For senior Republicans, striking any kind of ACA deal could cause major problems with their own members. While some GOP moderates are pushing for an extension, several hardliners warned Republican leadership over the weekend not to cut a deal on the subsidies.
GOP leaders are privately cautioning Trump not to agree to any ACA extension until after they resolve the funding impasse. But there are new signs of coordination on a potential health deal. A group of Senate Republicans is working on a proposal for later this year that would pair an extension of the subsidies with conservative policy changes. Members of the contingent are talking with White House officials and CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz to make sure any blueprint would be in alignment between lawmakers and the White House.
Republican leadership is also threatening logistical pressure. The Senate will likely wait until Tuesday to vote again on the GOP continuing resolution, and House GOP leaders have been considering keeping the chamber in recess next week during a shutdown. Johnson will hold a call with House Republicans at 11:15 a.m. today ahead of the White House meeting.
Some Republicans remain hopeful that enough Democrats will help advance the GOP CR like they did in March. But if not, they warn Trump will make a shutdown politically painful, given his latitude over what agencies and programs stay open.
“I’d be much more worried if I was a blue state,” Sen. Roger Marshall said.
Democrats are so far undaunted. But between the House and the Senate, they also lack a unified position on what specifically they need to back the GOP CR. Jeffries has taken a hard line, warning that a health care agreement needs to be “ironclad and in legislation.” Senate Democrats are more pushing for Republicans to just talk with them. Schumer took a step in that direction when he called Thune to set up the White House meeting (as Jordain scooped).
As for Trump, White House officials say the president will pressure Schumer to accept the GOP-led stopgap bill without making a deal, at least for now, on any of the Democrats’ health care demands.
Ahead of the meeting, the administration hasn’t yet finalized closure plans for agencies, according to three Trump officials. As one of the officials put it: “I think it all hinges on [Monday’s] meeting.”