Comedian Jon Stewart ripped into the eight senators who voted with Republicans to end the government shutdown without securing an extension of health insurance tax credits — a key Democratic demand.
In a scathing opening monologue on Monday’s episode of “The Daily Show,” Stewart said he could not “f—ing believe” that Democrats broke ranks to end the stalemate. The Senate agreement, ratified Monday, did not provide a resolution on the enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies that will expire at the end of the year without congressional action.
“They f—ing caved on the shutdown, not even a full week removed from the best election night results they’ve had in years,” Stewart said. “Seven Democratic senators and an independent voted with their Republican counterparts to end the shutdown and reopen the government, and did they get their extended health care subsidies?”
During the historic shutdown, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) remained adamant that his caucus would vote against any deal that did not address ACA subsidies. And all but three Senate Democrats had voted against a House-passed spending bill since the shutdown began on Oct. 1, keeping the measure five votes short of approval.
The new Senate package guarantees a vote on ACA subsidies by mid-December, terms that Stewart deemed as inadequate.
“Democrats, you sold out the entire shutdown not to get what you wanted, but for a promise to not get what you wanted later,” Stewart said. “And by the way, what good does a promise of a Senate vote even do for you, Democrats? You don’t control the Senate.”
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), one of the eight Democratic caucus members who voted with Republicans, defended his decision to back the funding package.
“There was no guarantee that waiting would get us a better result, but there was a guarantee that waiting would impose suffering on more everyday people,” Kaine told NPR.
Stewart blasted Kaine’s response, noting that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) had still not committed to holding a floor vote on ACA subsidies when the chamber comes back into session.
“Surely, someone in the party understands that offering a vote in the Senate without a commitment that it would pass, or that the House would even take it up, is an empty offer,” Stewart said.
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