Gov. Maura Healey on Tuesday laid the blame for a looming government shutdown on Republicans in Washington, D.C., while saying Democrats will continue to speak out against threats to health care access.
Ahead of a midnight deadline for Congress and President Trump to reach a deal to keep the government running, Healey said on Boston Public Radio that Republicans are “driving us over a cliff.” The Democratic governor said members of her party, who have been holding out for more health care funding, are not the ones to blame.
Asked if she’s confident that Democratic minority leaders Chuck Schumer in the Senate and Hakeem Jeffries in the House will prevail, Healey said she sees “a lot of strong leaders out there.”
“I don’t think it’s on the two of them alone,” Healey said “I don’t always think that Leader Schumer is the best messenger. That said, I know there are a lot of people out there pressing and making the case, and they need to. This is serious stuff.”
Earlier this year, Healey was reportedly one of the governors who pressed Schumer for a more forceful response to Trump’s Cabinet nominees. She also called for “aggressive” and “proactive” leadership in a New York Times interview published in March.
In her radio appearance Tuesday, Healey did not elaborate on who she sees as other strong leaders in the party.
The number-two Democrat in the House is U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark of Revere, who has been making the case on health care funding in social media posts and television interviews.
The governor said she worries both about Bay Staters losing health coverage and about the impact of a shutdown in Massachusetts.
“Think of all the services that you need, whether it’s going to get a passport for an upcoming trip, perhaps, or you’re a small business applying for a small business loan,” Healey said. “Well, this just stops. So it’s totally irresponsible, and it’s a sign of the dysfunction in D.C.”
One sticking point in the budget standoff is a set of subsidies for people who buy their health insurance through Affordable Care Act marketplaces, which are on track to expire at the end of the year.
Healey joined 17 other Democratic governors earlier this month in urging Congress to extend the subsidies, writing that the “damage will be felt for years” if the credits expire and push health insurance costs out of reach for the families who use them.
The credits lower premium costs for 336,000 Massachusetts residents, according to Healey’s office.
