President Donald Trump is floating a plan to extend health care subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. The proposal would extend the credits, which are due to expire at the end of the year, while making changes to eligibility requirements.
U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, a Democrat from Springfield, said rising health care costs have caused a political headache for the President, who is suddenly interested in trying to find a solution.
"The president is trying to draft proposals, he's trying to placate the base of the Republican party who wants the tax credits cancelled against those in the party who say, 'extend these tax credits at least for two years,' because of the election cycle within which we find ourselves," Neal said.
As a condition of ending the recent government shutdown, Senate Democrats were promised by Republicans a vote on extending the subsides sometime next month.
DOGE no more
The Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, is no more. President Donald Trump trumpeted the short-lived agency as a way to reduce government waste. That effort resulted in funding and personnel cuts to federal agencies.
The Trump Administration recently shuttered the department in a quiet fashion, after it was introduced with much fanfare.
Neal said DOGE was a failure.
"I think that this was callous, it was reckless, but it had a political strategy to it," Neal said. "That was to try to collapse the idea that government offers worthwhile support to the American family."
Neal said he heard from constituents who have been inconvenienced — trying to reach out with questions or about services from Social Security or the Internal Revenue Service.
“How about people that were coming to the Social Security offices and told ‘well, you’ll have to come back in another three weeks because we don’t have adequate staffing,’” Neal said. “I visited the Social Security office here in Springfield, I can confirm precisely what the claimant said.”
For the entire conversation with Neal, click on the video above.
