Key Democrats believe a deal with Republicans on the enhanced premium tax credits, whose expiration will raise some health insurance premiums, is unlikely.
Though President Donald Trump may address the matter this week, Democrats left Washington for the holiday break seeing little interest from Trump despite there being a significant faction of invested House and Senate Republicans.
“Trump made it pretty clear he’s not considering getting rid of the premium increases. It doesn’t really matter unless we’re negotiating with the White House. So we’re stuck,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. “They’ve got to want to do this. And right now it doesn’t feel like they want to do this.”
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., said even GOP support in the Senate is shaky: “Whether there are 13 of them who will step up and work with us remains to be seen.”
A growing number of people in both parties worry there will be no deal, and Democrats will litigate the issue in the midterms.