The deal now making its way from the Senate to the House that will bring an end to the record-long government shutdown has drawn mixed reactions from Maine’s Congressional delegation.
While both of Maine’s senators appear pleased that progress is being made toward reopening the government, the Democratic representative from the First District has expressed distaste that some of her colleagues have agreed to move the needle in this direction.
Many Democrats have pushed to keep the government shutdown until they come to an agreement with their Republican counterparts on the potential extension of expanded health insurance tax credits.
First created in 2021 as part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), these credits give many Americans access to free or discounted monthly premiums health insurance premiums through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace.
Without intervention from Congress, this tax credit is set to expire at the end of this year. Should this happen, only the more limited version of the tax credit originally included in the ACA will remain in effect going forward.
In a 60-40 vote, the Senate managed to advance a package combining a short-term funding measure with three full-year appropriations bills, sending the agreement onto the House where it must also be approved.
Maine’s Senator Susan Collins (R), who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, led negotiations between Republicans, Democrats, House members, and administration officials to reach the agreement.
[RELATED: Senate Approves Collins-Backed Bill to Reopen Government, Restore Pay for Federal Workers]
Sen. Collins celebrated the package’s approval in a statement shared Monday.
“This short-term continuing resolution would reopen government immediately, provide back pay to all federal workers, and fund important federal programs on which many Americans rely,” wrote Collins.
“The MilCon-VA bill would provide significant support for Maine’s veterans, shipbuilding workforce, and National Guard,” she explained. “By assisting farmers and investing in critical agricultural research and nutrition programs, the Agriculture, Rural Development, and FDA bill would support rural communities throughout the state.”
“As the Chair of the Appropriations Committee, I am delighted with today’s accomplishment, and I hope the House of Representatives will pass this legislation quickly so we can put an end to this unnecessary government shutdown,” Collins added.
Click Here to Read Sen. Collins’ Full Statement
Sen. Angus King (I), one of the few non-GOP lawmakers to have previously voted in support of reopening the government, also spoke positively of the deal in a press conference held toward the end of the vote.
“The question before us, before those of us here, who decided to vote yes tonight,” Sen. King said during the conference, “the question was, does the shutdown further the goal of achieving some needed support for the extension of the tax credits?”
“Our judgment was that it will not produce that result. And the evidence for that is almost seven weeks of fruitless attempts to make that happen,” he said. “Would it change in a week or another week or after Thanksgiving or Christmas? And there’s no evidence that it would.”
“What there is evidence of is the harm that the shutdown is doing to the country. What it’s doing to millions of federal workers, but also what is doing to tens of millions of recipients of SNAP benefits,” said King. “This is a true crisis for those individuals.”
King went on to explain that by voting to reopen the government, he feels that the Democrats were actually brought closer to having the opportunity to discussing the health insurance tax credits that have been consistently cited by left-leaning lawmakers as their reason for keeping the government shut down for so long.
“I believe that we are closer tonight to a vote on the ACA tax credits than we were this morning,” King said. “Because part of this agreement, and you heard the Majority Leader on the floor today say he has committed to putting a bill on the floor before the second weekend in December, that would be drafted by the Democrats concerning health care in the ACA.”
“This agreement tonight is a win for the American people, and it’s a win for those people that are so insistent that I’m hearing from all the time, protect our health care,” said King.
“What happened tonight is not the closing of a chapter,” he added. “It’s the opening of an opportunity.”
“What the chapter does close is the damaging shutdown that is only getting worse, that is only going to impact more and more people,” said King in closing. “It’s an opportunity for us to move forward on behalf of all the people of this country on the issue of health care, but also on making the federal government function.”
Click Here to Read Sen. King’s Full Remarks
In stark contrast to this, Rep. Chellie Pingree (D) of Maine’s First Congressional District shared a brief statement Sunday night regarding the proposed deal in which she expresses clear opposition.
“A ‘deal’ that lets ACA credits expire fails the millions of families counting on us to keep their health care affordable,” wrote Rep. Pingree in a post on X.
“Republicans have spent years trying to dismantle the ACA, and pretending Mike Johnson will allow a vote on a clean ACA bill in the House is a fantasy,” she said. “I will be a no on this ‘deal.'”
As of this article’s publication, it does not appear that Rep. Jared Golden (D) of the Second District has spoken publicly about his position on the Senate-approved package.
Last month, Rep. Golden did, however, urge his fellow lawmakers to reopen the government, criticizing his fellow Democrats for shutting it down over what he characterized as a “normal policy debate.”
[RELATED: Jared Golden Criticizes Fellow Lawmakers for Shutting Down Government Over “Normal Policy Debate”]
“These credits help Americans buy ACA marketplace insurance, but expire in January,” Rep. Golden wrote at the time.”Health care costs will spike dramatically for millions of Americans. For some, coverage will become unaffordable and they’ll lose it entirely.”
“But this has nothing to do with the current shutdown fight,” Golden said. “These tax credits expire in January not because of the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ or any other legislation passed in this Congress or the last. It was the Inflation Reduction Act — a bill passed entirely by Democrats in 2022 — that mandated their expiration at the end of this year.”
“Despite the spin, the truth remains,” Golden concluded in early October. “Voting against it won’t undo the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ or stop the ACA tax credits from expiring. It just keeps the government shut down.”
The package recently approved by the Senate will now face a series of votes in the House and will ultimately require a signature from President Donald Trump (R) before the lengthy government shutdown can come to an end.
Reporting from CBS News indicates that the House may take up the package as soon as Wednesday evening.
