CRANSTON, RI – Hoping to avert a possible government shutdown at the end of the month, U.S. Senator Jack Reed is urging Washington Republicans to end their intra-party fighting and start working with Democrats on a bipartisan spending measure to keep the government open.

With the annual budget set to expire on September 30, a significant faction of House Republicans are refusing to fund the government unless Congress agrees to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.  These demands come on top of the across-the-board cuts known as the sequester and despite $2.4 trillion in deficit reduction that Reed has supported since 2011.  

“Shutting down the federal government is a bad idea and does nothing to improve health care coverage or reduce the deficit.  If Republicans force a government shutdown it could be a terrible blow for taxpayers, our economy, and the thousands of Rhode Island workers who could be furloughed.  A prolonged government shutdown would halt construction work on our bridges and roads and block SBA loans to small businesses looking to expand.  It could also make it harder for people to do simple tasks like renew their passports or apply for federal benefits.  Simply put, a lengthy government shutdown would be costly and hurt economic growth,” said Reed.

The U.S. House of Representatives has already voted 41 times to try to defund Obamacare and have been unsuccessful in their efforts to repeal the law every single time.  Earlier this week, House Republican leaders failed to muster enough votes within their party to proceed with a spending plan that would link a defunding of Obamacare to a stop-gap measure that would keep federal agencies funded through December 15.

“Republican leaders should stop their infighting and start working with Democrats on a bipartisan plan to keep the government open and our economy moving forward.  Time is short.  Congress needs to work together,” said Reed.  “We need to pass a budget, responsibly replace the sequester, and focus on creating jobs and strengthening the middle-class.  Trying to take away health care for 30 million Americans does nothing to further any of those goals.”

Reed also said the suggestion by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) and others that the House should cause another default crisis unless the main provisions of the Affordable Care Act are delayed is “beyond irresponsible.” 

“Americans can’t afford a repeat of 2011, where Republicans nearly forced the country into sovereign default and prompted the first downgrade in the history of America’s credit ratings,” said Reed. 

In March, Senator Reed supported a budget plan to chart a fiscally responsible path forward this year and makes investments in broad-based economic growth.  The budget was approved by the full U.S. Senate, but unfortunately, a set of Republicans, on eighteen separate occasions, have blocked conferencing the budget with the one passed by the House of Representatives.