Maine's two Democrats in the U.S. House were on opposite sides of Wednesday night's vote to reopen the federal government.
U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, who represents Maine's 2nd Congressional District, was one of six Democrats to join most Republicans in voting for the bill that funds the government through Jan. 30. But 1st District U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree voted against the stopgap funding measure because it did not include an extension of subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, as Democrats had demanded.
"Of course I'm anxious to have the government reopen again. It's been too long for people to go without a paycheck and there are a lot of concerns out there," Pingree said in an interview Wednesday before the vote. "That said, I don't like the deal that was made. And I am not happy that we haven't cut a deal with Republicans to extend the premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act."
Golden has accused both parties of political brinkmanship during the shutdown. He was the only Democrat to vote with Republicans back in September on a "clean" continuing resolution to fund government operations into November. And while Golden supports extending the ACA tax credits, he has criticized his party's strategy of linking the government funding bills with the fight over the subsidies.
“Congress still has a window to pass bipartisan legislation to extend the ACA premium tax credits,” Golden said in a statement. "In September, I joined a bipartisan coalition in the House to put forth legislation to extend the credits for one year and now, with the shutdown now over, I urge members of both parties who care about affordable health care to come back to the table so we can get the job done.”
Maine's two senators, Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and independent Sen. Angus King, both played key roles in negotiating the bill that eventually ended the shutdown. In addition to funding all agencies through Jan. 30, the package includes three appropriations bills that fully fund the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, veterans' affairs and other programs through Sept. 30.
The USDA funding means that food assistance benefits — including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits that support 42 million Americans — will continue throughout the fiscal year even if Congress fails to agree on an additional funding package by Jan. 30. The Senate agreement also provides back pay to all federal workers and requires the Trump administration to rehire thousands of employees who were fired during the shutdown.
"Tonight, we finally put an end to the longest government shutdown in our nation’s history, which has caused completely unnecessary harm to so many families in Maine and across the country, as well as to our national and economic security," Collins said in a statement. “As chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I worked with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and with members of the House of Representatives and administration to resolve the stalemate before America’s dedicated public servants missed yet another paycheck."
King, meanwhile, had been part of the eight members of the Senate Democratic caucus who negotiated with Republicans to break the logjam in part by securing a promise from Senate Majority Leader John Thune that the chamber will vote on a Democratic bill to extend the ACA subsidies by mid-December. Their votes then provided Republicans with the 60 votes needed to pass the bill and send it to the House for Wednesday's vote.
Many progressives and some of their Democratic congressional colleagues have strongly criticized that deal, however, and have accused the senators of ending the shutdown with no guarantees that the ACA subsidies will be extended.
"The chances of getting the Republicans to bend on the Affordable Care Act tax credits were zero and I know both from their public position but also frequent interaction with people I see every day — it just wasn't going to happen," King said in an interview on Wednesday. "So if we weren't going to get what we wanted, then the question becomes is it worth putting people through the pain that the shutdown is imposing on millions of Americans in pursuit of a goal that is not going to happen?"
Instead, King said the agreement will force Republicans to either extend the tax credits or to explain to the American public why they are allowing premiums to increase dramatically on millions of Americans in January.
Pingree strongly criticized the deal negotiated by King and the other seven senators. But she agreed that the onus is now on House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republican leaders.
"There' are a lot of calls going into everybody's district," Pingree said. "So this isn't like a blue-state/red-state thing. I think there will be a lot of pressure in the coming months and I don't think Johnson will do this willingly. But he may end up having to do it because of the pressure from his own side."
