AFT’s Weingarten responds to key vote to end shutdown

“AFT’s 1.8 million members have repeatedly called on Congress and the president to fund the government, pay workers and solve problems that keep Americans up at night, particularly the need to extend Obamacare tax credits to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing. Instead, Republicans and Donald Trump made a choice in October to shut down the federal government rather than work across the aisle to protect Americans’ healthcare and lower costs.

“Americans sent political officials a message on Election Day: Focus on affordability, not power. Unfortunately, Republicans—who control all branches of government—are ignoring it.

“Democrats have been fighting to prevent a full-blown healthcare crisis. But instead of working with them to find a solution, the Trump administration has used the government shutdown to inflict even more pain on Americans. They fired thousands of federal employees and forced more than 1 million to go without pay. They canceled thousands of flights, snarling air travel across the country. And they have denied food aid through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, putting up to 42 million Americans at risk of going hungry.

“Let’s be clear: There is now a healthcare crisis, aviation crisis and hunger crisis. Americans are looking at healthcare costs that will be 26 percent higher next year, on average. More than 20 million people currently receiving tax credits to help purchase coverage on the Affordable Care Act exchanges in 2026 will see average increases of 114 percent. For many Americans, these extra costs could mean a choice between healthcare and rent or groceries.

“Americans deserve dignity, opportunity and a life they can afford. And they deserve leaders who care about them enough to put politics aside and work toward solutions that improve their lives, not shatter them.

“Democrats don’t have the votes to win this fight right now. And Republicans are refusing to negotiate on a crisis they created. This is why elections matter, and why ‘we the people’ must keep standing up, just like the millions who joined ‘No Kings’ protests and millions more who turned out this month to vote in elections for a people’s agenda, not a Donald Trump agenda.

“We have gone to court, over and over, to stop this administration’s harms against Americans, and we will continue this fight in the courts, Congress, commerce, and the court of public opinion—standing up for each other and our communities.

“We will not forget the Republicans’ refusal to negotiate, and we are grateful for the fight that the vast majority of Democrats waged.

“Our movement is growing. We are not waiting until 2026. Now, with two new governors and mayors across the country committed to affordability and democracy, we will continue this fight to make government more responsive to the people and to build a better future for working Americans.”