Statement on the Senate Agreement to End the Government Shutdown
WASHINGTON—Third Way issued the following statement from Jon Cowan, President of Third Way:
“We oppose the agreement in the Senate to end the government shutdown.
“For the last 40 days—and for the first time in the Trump presidency—Democrats have driven the debate and put Republicans on their heels. All factions of the party were unified around defending the Affordable Care Act. Republicans, led by Trump, seem hellbent on taking away the tax credits that allow millions of Americans to have health care without going broke. This was a battle worth fighting, and it was worth fighting longer.
“Ultimately, Democrats may not have succeeded in extending the ACA subsidies, but now we will never know. To paraphrase Bill Clinton, one of America’s most pugnacious Democratic centrists, we should have been ready to fight ‘until the last dog dies.’ We should not have surrendered until we received at least something tangible on lowering health care costs.
“But regardless of today’s votes, there is one clear political loser from this fight: Donald Trump. He inflicted 40 days of pain on Americans just to prolong the health care crisis that he created. Heading into 2026, every American will know one thing: it was Donald Trump and congressional Republicans who robbed them of their health care and jacked up prices.”