New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte has joined 24 of her fellow Republican governors calling on Congress to pass a short-term continuing resolution and avoid a “government shutdown that would deeply harm hardworking Americans across our states.”
If Congress doesn’t pass a spending plan, the government is set to shut down at 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 1, when current funding expires. The GOP-controlled House already passed a continuing resolution (CR) that continued current spending, with a small increase in security.
In a letter to the U.S. Senate leadership, the GOP governors urged the Senate to “immediately pass a clean short-term funding extension to prevent a government shutdown that would deeply harm hardworking Americans across our states. With the September 30th funding deadline quickly approaching, we implore the Senate to fast-track the clean short-term extension that passed the House of Representatives with bipartisan support.”
Both New Hampshire Democrats in the U.S. House, Reps. Maggie Goodlander and Chris Pappas voted to shut down the government when the GOP’s clean CR came before the House.
“Holding the federal government funding hostage is not just a Washington D.C. debate for political points; it has real and immediate consequences in every state across America that cannot be overlooked,” the governors wrote.
“From impacting pay for our troops, first responders, and firefighters, to affecting critical services for seniors and veterans, and disrupting food assistance for families in need, a government shutdown would inflict severe consequences on the American people that are completely avoidable.”
As of late Monday night, Democrats in the Senate were insisting on a major increase in spending before they support the continuing resolution. According to Vice President JD Vance, the new spending includes millions to pay for healthcare benefits to illegal immigrants.
“If you look at the original they did with this negotiation, it was a $1.5 trillion spending package, basically saying the American people want to give massive amounts of money, hundreds of billions of dollars to illegal aliens for their health care, while Americans are struggling to pay their health care bills,” Vance said. “That was their initial foray into this negotiation. We thought it was absurd.”
New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen wants the government shutdown to be over taxpayer-funded subsidies to higher earners using Obamacare to purchase health coverage. Those subsidies are project to cost taxpayers an estimated to cost $335 billion over 10 years.
Axios reports she intends to hold a “shadow hearing” on the Obamacare subsidies issue on Tuesday with about a dozen of her fellow Senate Democrats. Republicans say they’re willing to negotiate over the Obamacare issue, but only after a short-term CR is in place.
“We can have that conversation. But before we do, release the hostage. Set the American people free. Keep the government open,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said.
