Democrats take a political risk with shutdown

To protect healthcare for millions, leaders say, the halt is a worthwhile gamble.

- MICHAEL WILNER, ANA CEBALLOS AND ANDREA CASTILLO

VISITORS SIT on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at sunrise on Wednesday. A stalemate led to the federal shutdown on Tuesday night.

Democratic lawmakers took a significant risk this week by choosing to fight the Trump administration over the extension of healthcare credits.

A stalemate over the matter led to the federal shutdown on Tuesday night, when Democrats denied Republicans the votes needed to continue funding the government, forcing hundreds of thousands of federal workers into furloughs or to work without pay.

It’s a gamble for a party facing its lowest approval numbers since the Reagan era — and a calculated risk Democratic leaders felt compelled to take.

"I am proud to be fighting to preserve healthcare for millions of people," Sen. Adam Schiff of California said in an interview Wednesday. "I think this is a very necessary fight."

The healthcare tax credits are set to expire at the end of the year, and if Democrats are unsuccessful in securing an extension as part of a shutdown deal, then premiums for millions of Americans are expected to skyrocket, Schiff said.

"There's really not much that can be done to mitigate these dramatic health premium increases people are going to see unless the president and Republicans are willing to work with us on it," he said.

Entering the shutdown, polls indicated the country was split over who would be to blame, with 19% of Americans faulting Democrats and 26% charging Republicans, according to a New York Times poll. A plurality of respondents-33%-said both parties were responsible.

Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, a Democrat and the Senate minority leader, is leading the charge with his worst favorability numbers among his home state residents in over 20 years — and with the highest disapproval ratings of any congressional leader, according a recent Pew survey.