As Democrats face backlash for ending the longest shutdown in U.S. history without health care concessions, Durbin defends the move as symbolic — even as premiums are set to soar.
Washington, D.C. | In a stunning admission that’s fueling backlash across the Democratic base, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said his party “caved” on the government shutdown to make a symbolic point about Republican indifference to rising health insurance costs. The move, which reopened the federal government after a record-long shutdown, came without securing Affordable Care Act subsidy extensions — a core demand of Democrats.
“We proved that Republicans are not sensitive to health care insurance premiums and we are,” Durbin told The Intercept. “National polls show we’ve made a national issue out of it.”Durbin, the Senate Minority Whip and one of eight Senate Democrats to side with Republicans, insisted that the decision, while unpopular, highlighted the party’s policy values. But critics argue that symbolism came at an enormous cost — both politically and economically.
