U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) speaks with Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), as Lori Chavez-DeRemer, U.S. President Trump\u2019s nominee to be secretary of labor testifies before a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 19, 2025.<\/p>\n
Kent Nishimura | Reuters<\/p>\n
Sen. Susan Collins<\/a> is reportedly shopping around a potential off-ramp to the government shutdown<\/a> that has paralyzed Washington, but the Maine Republican is not ready to give in on the primary demand by her Democratic colleagues.<\/p>\n Collins has been circulating a “discussion draft” of a proposal that would include GOP pledges on a deal related to enhanced Obamacare tax credits<\/a>, Punchbowl News reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n But Collins is insisting that any extension of the Affordable Care Act subsidies<\/a> should be negotiated after Congress passes a funding resolution that would allow the government to reopen.<\/p>\n Collins told reporters Monday that she has a draft of a proposal to get out of the shutdown, which she has shared “selectively.”<\/p>\n “There are a lot of informal discussions, but so far there’s no product, so we have the discussion draft,”\u00a0she said, according to the news site NOTUS<\/a>.<\/p>\n Her draft “suggests that there be a conversation on the ACA extension … after we reopen government,” she said, according to NOTUS.<\/p>\n “I do think we need an extension, but we also need some reforms, such as a cap on how much income you can earn, and that is totally feasible to do right after we finish keeping government open,” Collins said Monday, a<\/strong>ccording to the Maine Morning Star<\/a>.<\/p>\n “But we should not have issues that are very complicated that split the Senate attached to the continuing resolution, because all that’s going to do is prolong the shutdown.”<\/p>\n Most Democratic senators have refused to vote for any funding legislation unless it codifies an extension of the subsidies, which are due to expire at the end of the year.<\/p>\n Republicans like Collins, however, insist that conversations over the subsidies should occur after the government reopens.<\/p>\n Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, both support extending the tax credits, as do Reps. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., and\u00a0Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., Punchbowl reported.<\/p>\n Murkowski and Collins are no strangers to crossing partisan lines.<\/p>\n Read more CNBC government shutdown coverage<\/p>\n Both Republicans voted against some GOP pieces of legislation during President Donald Trump<\/a>‘s first term.<\/p>\n The two moderate Republicans have not yet shown an indication that they will vote with Democrats on the funding legislation, but their openness marks a potential shift.<\/p>\n In a separate sign of the growing pressure on Republicans to weigh Democrats’ health-care demands, Sen. Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said he may be souring on the Republican proposal to temporarily fund the government.<\/p>\n King has voted with Republicans five times on the government funding bill. But he said<\/a> Monday that he is “contemplating” changing his vote unless the GOP is more “forthcoming dealing with the ACA problem.”<\/p>\n “We need some assurance that they will deal with this problem, and so far that hasn’t been forthcoming.”<\/p>\n