Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) at a Meetig on Maine Vet Homelessness at Hanaford Hall, USM, Portland Several Years Ago.

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-ME) released the following statement this afternoon on the Senate’s short-term government funding deal:

“A ‘deal’ that lets enhanced ACA credits expire, which will drive permiums higher for families already stretched thin, fails the millions of families counting on us to keep their health care affordable.  That is not a compromise.  It is capitulation.

House Democrats have been clear:  Any responsile bipartisan funding bill must address the Republican-made health care crisis.  Senate Republilcans refused.  Now they want the House to rubber stamp legislation that leaves workig families exposed to higher costs while pretending there’s some mythical path to a clean ACA vote in the House.  After watching Speaker Johnson sprint away from simple questions on ACA extensions, no one should believe that fiction.

Republicans have spent years trying to dismantle the ACA.  This ‘deal’ gives them exactly what they’ve always wanted:  higher premiums and fewer protections for the people we represent.  I will not legitimize that choice, or the cruelty and chaos Republicans and this Administration have created.

I will also vote no. And I will keep fighting — alongside Leader Jeffries and House Democrats — to secure a real solution that keeps the government open and preserves the ACA tax credits tens of millions of Americans rely on.”