Since the federal government shut down on Oct. 1, the Senate has held dozens of votes . It's a very different story over in the House, which has not been in session since September 19th — before the shutdown started.
On Vermont Edition Monday, Vermont’s Democratic congresswoman Becca Balint called on House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to bring House Republicans back to the negotiating table.
"It's astounding," she said. "We have never had a Speaker of the House give up all of his power and authority — and by extension, all of our authority — by disbanding the House."
Balint said that she and her Democratic colleagues have been splitting their time since September between their home districts and Washington "to push Speaker Johnson to actually do what he was elected to do, which is to negotiate."
Monday marked the 34th day of the federal government shutdown.
Johnson has cancelled more than a month of scheduled votes. Meanwhile, the Senate has held dozens of roll call votes. Senators reconvened Monday afternoon but were not scheduled to vote on a Republican-crafted, House-passed continuing resolution to fund the government through Nov. 21. The bill has already failed to advance 13 times.
Congressional Democrats, including Vermont's three-member delegation, say that shutting down the government is the only lever they have to pull in their fight to preserve health insurance subsidies. About 30,000 Vermonters purchase their health insurance through the state's Affordable Care Act marketplace. According to the Public Assets Institute, Vermonters will see the biggest increases if the federal healthcare premium tax credits expire, because Vermont already has the highest premiums in the country.
"This is an existential threat," said Balint. "It is threatening our rural hospitals. It's threatening access to care."
Balint also addressed a caller's question about why members of Congress continue to receive paychecks while other federal workers are furloughed or go without pay. There are about 7,000 federal workers who live in Vermont.
"We should not be paid," she said, "and I can bet that we would get folks all back to the negotiating table a whole lot more quickly if that were the case."
This episode also included a conversation with Vermont's Health Care Advocate Mike Fisher and Marjorie Stinchcomb, a staff attorney at the office of the Health Care Advocate and the helpline director for Vermont Legal Aid.
Broadcast live on Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.
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