With just days left before a possible government shutdown, Democrats escalated their rhetoric over healthcare funding, with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unleashing a profanity-laced tirade during an NBC interview.
Pelosi, appearing on NBC News Monday, defended her party’s stance that any stopgap funding bill must include provisions to protect Affordable Care Act subsidies and reverse cuts to Medicaid.
Asked if she believed talks at the White House would yield results, Pelosi responded by blasting Republican proposals as unserious.
“What we’re talking about is meeting the health care needs of the American people, little babies, moms with breast cancer, dads with a stroke, and all of that,” Pelosi said.
“The President has said, I hear what they’re saying. It’s all unserious and ridiculous. In fact, I’ve listened to their sh*t, and I tell them to go f** themselves,” she added.
Pelosi acknowledged the language was unusual for her, adding, “I can’t believe I use that word. My kids will be shocked. My grandchildren will be further shocked. I’m just quoting the President of the United States.”
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Her comments came as congressional leaders scrambled to avert a shutdown at midnight on September 30.
While the Republican-controlled House passed a continuing resolution last week to keep the government open through late November, the Senate has not advanced it, with Democrats refusing to support a “clean” bill that excludes healthcare provisions.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries reinforced the stance Thursday, telling reporters, “We will not support a partisan spending agreement that continues to rip away health care from the American people, period, full stop.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer echoed Jeffries. “What the Republicans are proposing is not good enough for the American people and not good enough to get our votes,” he said. “The Republicans have to meet us in a true bipartisan negotiation to satisfy the American people’s needs on health care.”
At issue are two priorities Democrats say must be addressed before they can support funding the government: an extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire at the end of the year and a reversal of cuts to Medicaid enacted as part of the GOP’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” earlier this summer.
Those tax credits, first expanded under President Joe Biden in 2022, capped premiums and widened eligibility for ACA coverage.
Republicans, however, are pushing for a short-term bill with no policy riders, arguing that healthcare should be addressed separately. Senate Majority Leader John Thune suggested Democrats are using the shutdown deadline to force political concessions.
“I think their base is clamoring for that. They want a fight with the Trump administration,” Thune told Punchbowl News. “But they don’t have a good reason to do it. And I don’t intend to give them a good reason.”
President Donald Trump, for his part, endorsed a short-term extension last week and suggested Republicans should move forward without consulting Democrats.
“We have to get Republican votes. That’s it. If we do, we have the majority,” Trump said. He added that Democrats would not support a funding bill “even if you gave them every dream.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson has indicated he wants to avoid a shutdown but acknowledged Democratic cooperation will be needed in the Senate. He has not revealed whether Republican leaders are prepared to attach healthcare measures to the stopgap bill.
House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole has been working to assemble a package of three spending bills alongside the continuing resolution. “We wouldn’t do a CR that both sides didn’t agree to. I mean, we’re not trying to jam the Democrats on the CR,” Cole said. “We’re trying to work with them.”
Still, he warned against brinkmanship.
“I think shutting down the government in a temper tantrum is not going to be helpful to the country. I don’t think it’s going to be good for them, either, but that’s up to them.”
Congress faces a tight calendar: with Rosh Hashanah recess scheduled, lawmakers are not due back until September 29, leaving just two days to resolve differences. Leadership has hinted that additional legislative days may be added to beat the deadline.