Two former U.S. lawmakers, two distinct parties — yet one call for unity.
For the fourth time in a dozen years, the federal government is shut down after Congress failed to approve a budget by an Oct. 1 deadline.
Following this, many Republicans and Democrats have blamed the other. At the center of the divide are billions of dollars used to help pay for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.
Republicans say Democrats are pushing for Medicaid and emergency care funding for unauthorized immigrants. Democrats counter those claims are misleading because those immigrants are not eligible for Medicaid.
Instead, Democrats say they want to extend enhanced subsidies for Obamacare premiums set to expire Dec. 31. Republicans say they will negotiate over the subsidies, but only after Democrats agree to a new short-term plan – or continuing resolution – to keep spending the same through Nov. 21.
"I think the greater issue is that there is no trust in Washington, D.C., in either direction. For good reason. There's also little political incentive to negotiate."Former U.S. Representative Carlos Curbelo
'How much pain are we going to endure?'
In the midst of this disagreement on what's best for the country, two former U.S. representatives from Florida spoke on "The Florida Roundup" about the importance of reaching a consensus with the lingering question: "How much pain are we going to endure?"
Republican Carlos Curbelo and Democrat Stephanie Murphy are part of the bipartisan nonprofit organization Center Aisle Coalition.
When it comes to the shutdown, Curbelo told host Tom Hudson he hopes lawmakers get to "Congress regular order." He said this is a process where a federal budget is built in a "collaborative" and "bipartisan manner."
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He added he believes congressional Republicans have the upper hand because he thinks they're making a fairly reasonable request: They want a continuing resolution to extend funding for seven weeks. This would provide more time to iron out the normal process for budgetary compromise and have the debate about negotiations over the enhanced ACA subsidies. But that leverage could potentially change, he said.
"I also think if President (Donald) Trump starts to indiscriminately fire federal workers, and that has an impact on government services and on the stability of the economy and the federal government, then Democrats could all of a sudden find themselves in a stronger political position. But at the end of the day, everyone loses here. So this is bad news," Curbelo said.
A divided political sphere
Congress has not had a return to "regular order" since 1997. The closest was the mid-2010s, and that was because they had passed a "no budget, no pay" provision in 2013.
"Members of Congress wouldn't get paid if they didn't do their job," Murphy explained. "And unfortunately, that provision doesn't exist anymore." It expired the following year and was never renewed.
She added that from a Democrat standpoint, the party is working to ensure the health care subsidies aren't eliminated, saying Florida is one of the states with the highest number of people enrolled in the exchanges.
"And without extending those — or without any guarantees that they'll extend those — there'll be millions of Floridians who will see their health insurance premiums go up, and I think that's what Democrats are trying to fight for in this moment," she said.
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Murphy explained how Democrats feel there's a risk in negotiating this issue in November under a continuing resolution so that the government remains open.
"I think given the way that the Republicans have wielded power, given that they have all levers of government, gives Democrats very little comfort that they'll be able to negotiate on these health care tax extensions or health care subsidy extensions," she said.
Curbelo stated that Senate Majority Leader John Thune has been "pretty open about his willingness to do this." He said Republicans do want to see some reforms to the program because they believe there's waste and abuse.
"I think the greater issue is that there is no trust in Washington, D.C., in either direction. For good reason," Curbelo said. "There's also little political incentive to negotiate."
Curbelo said a "functional, trust-based political system" does not currently exist.
"And on top of it, all of this underscores the importance of political base politics these days," he said. "Democrats need to show a fight, and then on the Republican side, the Republican base doesn't have (an) interest in seeing their party negotiate with Democrats. So that's the dynamic right now."
Murphy was in Congress during the last shutdown in 2019. This was the longest one in history at 35 days. During that period, many federal workers in critical roles were required to continue working without pay. The shutdown finally ended because of escalating disruptions to public services and mounting pressure on Trump, who was demanding funding for a border wall.
Murphy explained how air traffic controllers stopped showing up for work by calling in sick. This started to shut down airports.
The shutdown ended with Republicans not getting what they wanted, she said.
"No American wants to see their government this dysfunctional," Murphy said. "It underscores why shutdowns really aren't useful legislating tools. The parties don't tend to get what they want. When you have public safety issues and the shutdown starts to really affect the American people, that's when Washington finally blinks."
How can you make your voice heard?
When it comes to making the first step toward agreement, Curbelo said it will be the party that feels the most pressure. He feels both parties are going to let things play out and see how the public responds.
Murphy feels that procedurally, that step toward compromise needs to come from the Republicans since they hold the power.
"They have the pen in many ways on adjusting whatever the solution is. And they would need to make those decisions and then put that solution up for a vote," Murphy said.
Curbelo added that the people who need to be focused on are centrists and swing voters, as they will make a difference and decide who controls Congress next year.
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But in terms of what Americans can do now, Curbelo said the most important thing is to reach out to your member of Congress and encourage them to reach a solution, to "reject the talking points." By this, he means that either party could blame the other when you contact them. Curbelo said to "toss that aside" and say that you don't care and you just want it to be fixed. He also mentioned social media as a good way to help get your voice heard.
"So anything we can do to just shape the political climate, bring it to a better place — every action is a contribution," he said.
Murphy agreed, adding to also reach out to your senators. But she said one of the most powerful ways is to share personal stories and what this all means to you, whether about the shutdown or health care.
"I think those personal stories help to pierce the political brinksmanship veil, so to speak, so that people in Washington can see that their actions have a real-life effect on the people that they represent, and hopefully that will incentivize them to act with some urgency to get this resolved," she said.
This story was compiled from interviews conducted by Tom Hudson for "The Florida Roundup."
