Democrats want government funding stopgap to reverse nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts

Senate Democrats on Wednesday evening unveiled an ambitious proposal to fund the government past Sept. 30 that would restore the nearly $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid made by President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which could cause scores of rural and smaller hospitals around the country to close.

The 68-page proposal would also permanently extend the enhanced health insurance premium subsidies under the Affordable Care Act that are due to expire at the end of the year, a lapse in federal funding that could result in families seeing their premiums rise by hundreds or thousands of dollars.

The legislation would unfreeze funds that have been frozen by Trump’s budget director, Russell Vought, including the $5 billion in foreign aid targeted by the president’s pocket rescission.

It would also provide substantially more money than a House Republican proposal to protect members of the House and Senate as well as the Supreme Court and federal courts from violent threats.

“The contrast between the Democratic budget proposal and the Republican proposal is glaring. The Republicans want the same old status quo — rising costs, declining health care. Democrats want to meet people’s needs by improving health care and lowering costs, in health care and many other places,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) told reporters after making the plan public.

Republicans have already rejected the Democratic proposal, but Schumer told reporters Washington is headed for a shutdown unless Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) negotiate with Democratic leaders.

“Ask the Republicans if they’re willing to shut the government down. That’s where they’re headed,” he said.

The cost of the Democrats’ alternative continuing resolution, which would fund the government through Oct. 31, would easily exceed $1 trillion.

The cost of permanently extending the enhanced health insurance premium subsidies would cost $358 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Democrats, however, argue that doing so is an extension of “current policy” and therefore should be scored as not adding to the deficit, the same tactic Republicans used to score the extension of the 2017 Trump tax cuts as deficit neutral.

Their alternative continuing resolution would also restore the $930 billion in cuts to Medicaid made by Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which the president signed into law on July 4.

Schumer described the plan as a starting point in potential talks with Republican leaders, who so far have resisted Democratic demands to negotiate the framework of a government funding deal.

“Our bill would restore all of the Medicaid funding. That’s what the American people want. We’ll sit down and negotiate,” he said. “We don’t have a red line but we know we have to help the American people.”

The proposal would provide nearly $200 million to protect members of Congress and $140 million to protect the federal courts from violent threats.

It would provide $30 million to cover state and local police costs for protecting lawmakers at events, $90 million for the House enhanced member security program and $66.5 million for the Senate sergeant-at-arms.

“The Senate believes we have to make our senators, Democrat, Republican, everybody secure. And we’ve put up a strong proposal to do that. We’ll see what the House does,” he said.

The House Republican stopgap unveiled earlier this week would provide $58 million to protect members of the executive branch and the Supreme Court and another $30 million to protect members of Congress.

The Senate Democratic proposal would lock in the bipartisan funding agreements Congress made for fiscal 2026 and restore federal funding for public radio and television stations, which Republicans clawed back through a rescissions package that passed in July.

It would prohibit the White House from eliminating or restricting the programs the president targeted for cuts in his 2026 budget proposal for the one-month length of the stopgap.