No End In Sight for Shutdown

“Schumer Shutdown” Is Nebraska Federal Delegates' Mantra By Gordon Hopkins Nebraska’s Republican delegates continue to remain on-message about the ongoing federal government shutdown and that message is: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer owns the shutdown.The 10th vote on a continuing resolution to fund the federal government failed on Thursday, October 16, 2025, suggesting the shutdown was unlikely to end any time soon.The federal government shut down for the first time in six years on October 1 at 12:01 a.m.On Wednesday afternoon, October 15, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts used the phrase, “Schumer Shutdown,” seven times during an 18-minute press conference and invoked Schumer’s name an additional 15 times.The issue that is keeping Democrats from voting for a continuing resolution is healthcare. Democrats want to see an extension of the ACA (Affordable Care Act tax credits), which are set to expire on December 31 of this year. If that happens, people insured through ACA could see their premiums increase dramatically. They also want to see cuts made to Medicaid reversed.Schumer has indicated Democrats will not relent on reopening the government until they are given a guarantee on extending the subsidies for health plans offered under Affordable Care Act marketplaces. Thus far, Republicans have proven equally intractable on this matter, insisting that a “clean” continuing resolution be passed with no partisan “add-ons.” Ricketts said, “This is the only bipartisan solution on keeping the government open, the one we're offering. It is a clean continuing resolution, which means there isn't anything put into it other than the Biden agreement that we had from the last administration. So again, Democrats have voted already four times for this bill over the last 18 months. It is their hypocrisy on insisting on a trillion dollars in new spending.”When asked if Republicans would consider negotiating with Democrats on health care to reopen the government, Senator Ricketts responded, “If Chuck Schumer was truly concerned about health care, he wouldn't be shutting the government down. He would be worried about the impact that's having, for example, on telehealth, with many of those programs have lapsed for our rural Nebraskans and seniors. He wouldn't be trying to rip out the $50 billion of Rural Health Care money that Republicans in the Senate put in in the one big, beautiful bill. Again, he's trying to take that out in the partisan legislation that he's offered. He's all for putting restoring in his partisan Bill regulations that would shut down rural nursing health care or nursing homes. So first of all, for him to claim that this is somehow his concern about health care is ridiculous.” Ricketts noted, “(Senator Republican) Leader (John) Thune has said that should the Democrats reopen government, he is willing to sit down and talk with them about this topic, so we're willing to do that. But after the government opens up.”The difficulty facing Democrats is that Republicans currently control the House, Senate and the Presidency. The continuing resolution is, effectively, the only bargaining chip they have at this juncture. When asked if he would vote to extend the subsidies, which were originally put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ricketts said, “I think it's important to note that these are pandemic subsidies. And frankly, if the Democrats had really wanted these extended, they could have done this last year when they were in power.”Ricketts also expressed doubts that healthcare was truly the impetus behind the shutdown.Schumer’s vote for an earlier resolution to fund the government earlier this year led to criticism from some within his own party for not extracting more concessions from Republicans, particularly on immigration. “It's shameful that Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats are holding government funding hostage for political gain,” said Ricketts, citing that earlier resolution. “What is driving the Schumer shutdown is Chuck Schumer himself, when he voted for this exact same bill in the spring. Remember, that wasn't that long ago. He got beat up by his far-left wing of the Democrat Party, and that is what is driving this. It is the far-left wing of the Democrat party that has beat up Chuck Schumer. He's afraid of getting beat up again, and so as long as he is being afraid, apparently, of his far-left wing, he will continue this.”When asked what negotiations were happening behind the scenes to reopen the government, Ricketts said, “There are a number of conversations are going on behind the scenes. I can’t really comment on those, so I will just leave it at.” that.

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