The White House has, at least temporarily, agreed to make the cost-sharing reduction payments to health insurers for May, Politico reports, potentially getting rid of one bone of contention leading to a potential government shutdown this weekend.
The White House is telling lawmakers that it will continue paying Affordable Care Act cost-sharing subsidies, potentially defusing a bruising conflict between Democrats and Trump administration officials that had sparked a new round of shutdown fears in Washington Wednesday.
Three sources said the administration was spreading the word across the Capitol that it would continue to provide payments to help millions of Americans to afford health insurance. It was not immediately clear how long the White House planned to keep the money flowing.
On Tuesday evening, Nancy Pelosi and President Donald Trump’s budget director clashed in a phone call over the Obamacare subsidies threatening delicate bipartisan negotiations to fund the government, according to sources familiar with the matter. The solution to the row appears to be the status quo: Paying for the subsidies outside of the congressional spending process. That would give Trump some future leverage over Obamacare while allowing Democrats to say they've protected the law, if only temporarily.
Popular vote loser Donald Trump apparently still wants to hang on to this hostage, though, leaving how long his regime will continue the payments a mystery and in turn leaving health insurers no less certain of their future—and the future of the 6 million customers who would lose the assistance and their health insurance.
But for now, Trump and Mulvaney have blinked. For now, anyway. At the rate they're going this week, that could change by the end of the day.