All three members of New Mexico’s all-Democratic delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives are vowing to vote against a Senate-brokered deal to reopen the federal government because it does not include an extension of tax credits that millions of Americans depend on to purchase health insurance.
U.S. Reps. Melanie Stansbury, Gabe Vasquez and Teresa Leger Fernandez have all publicly indicated they will oppose the continuing resolution when it comes to the floor of the Republican-led House later today.
The proposal, which will end the 43-day government shutdown, passed the Senate on Monday on a 60-40 vote. Seven Democrats who helped craft the deal with Republicans provided the necessary support to get it over the finish line. New Mexico Democratic Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan voted against it.
The legislation will keep the government open through January, while keeping SNAP and Women, Infants Children (WIC) funded through September. It also reverses the termination of federal employees through reduction-in-force agreements enacted by the Trump administration since October, when the shutdown began. Senate Democrats also were promised a vote on a healthcare bill in December, but with no guarantee it would pass or be taken up in the House.
Most Democrats, including those from New Mexico, have criticized the deal, saying it does not renew Enhanced Premium Care Tax Credits, which are set to expire at the end of the year, and are expected to trigger a surge in healthcare premiums and lapses in coverage.
“My job in Congress is to ensure that any final agreement to fund our government makes life better, not worse, for as many New Mexicans as possible. I’m listening to my constituents to ensure that my vote reflects their priorities — lowering health care costs and ending this shutdown as soon as possible,” Vasquez said.
Leger Fernandez also expressed disappointment with the continuing resolution.
“For 40 days, Democrats have fought to reopen the government and address health care costs, but Republicans refused to negotiate—or even show up to work. I’m a hell no on this ‘deal’ and will fight like hell until health care is affordable,” she said in a social media post after the deal was announced.
A member of the House Rules Committee, joined all three other Democrats on the committee to vote against the continuing resolution, though it passed 8-4 with the unanimous support of the committee’s Republican members.
Stansbury, at a virtual press conference on Monday, expressed mixed views on the deal, saying she was glad that it would reopen the federal government and provide relief to federal workers who had to endure missed paychecks, but that she would be voting against it, calling it a “raw deal.”
“I think like many Americans I feel betrayed by the handful of Senate Democrats who proceeded with talking a vote to end the shutdown without consultation with the rest of the Democratic caucus, and that essentially allowed the vote to happen without addressing the heart of what we have been fighting for for the last 40 days, which is to address the healthcare cliff that many Americans are facing with the end ofAffordable Care Act subsidies,” she said.