Senator Marshall: Chuck Schumer is Afraid That AOC Will Primary Him
Senator Marshall Joins Bloomberg to Discuss the Ongoing Budget Fight with Senate Democrats
Washington – On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas), joined Bloomberg’s Balance of Power to discuss the ongoing budget battle with Senate Democrats, what the off-ramp from the shutdown might be, and the announcement from the White House to lower drug prices.
Click HERE or on the image above to watch Senator Marshall’s full interview.
On why we need to push back against the Democrats’ push for Obamacare subsidies:
“Well, I woke up this morning and I felt like I had a woman in labor. She’s stuck at seven centimeters, and I don’t know if she will deliver tonight or tomorrow, but I wish I had some Pitocin to give Congress and to get this baby out and to finish the job. Yeah, look, these are extra subsidies. These are not the original Obamacare subsidies. These are extra subsidies from the Covid era, covid era subsidies, and we need to debate them. You know, the course, they cost a lot more than we thought they would, probably $35 billion a year.
“On the other hand, the cost of insurance has quadrupled this century. So, I totally get, you know, the concern there, but I think really keeping the government open tonight is our main job today. Keep the government open, and reasonable spending as well. I feel like Chuck Schumer is fighting for his political life, and his base has not realized that they lost the election.
“If I could go back to 2020, the Democrats win the House, the Senate, and the White House, they come in, they spend trillions of dollars more than we wanted, and we went through the next couple of years, I think, over a dozen times, Republicans voted for a continuing resolution, just like we’re doing tonight. And we never once asked them to rescind that package of spending. We wouldn’t like to, but we didn’t shut the government down over it. Now we feel like he’s shutting the government down over our one big, beautiful bill and these Covid-era expenditures as well.”
On potential legislation to extend the ACA subsidies:
“Yeah, and I assume that some of that is happening. I would have thought that Chuck Schumer would have come to the White House this weekend, rather than, you know, starting about a week ago, all of a sudden, he’s being very dishonest and saying, we’re not negotiating. Susan Collins and the Appropriations team have negotiated until they’re blue in the face. And they even had an agreement on what to do with this continuing resolution.
“So, I would have thought Chuck Schumer would have came to the White House yesterday and said, hey, if we fix these Covid-era subsidies, then we got a deal. And you shake hands and we get on with it.
“And by the way, what we should be talking about is the cost of health care. We should be talking about my transparency bill, a price tags bill that’s going to force hospitals to show exactly what it’s going to cost. We should be talking about driving prescription drug prices down by reforming PBMs, some of those types of things. Let’s go after the real root of the problem. But instead, we have this drama tonight that’s basically going to take all the oxygen out of the room for the next foreseeable future.”
On whether or not Senator Marshall would sunset the Covid-era subsidies:
“So, it’s all of the above. There are different piles. The Obamacare subsidies were set for people under 400% of poverty level. Now we’re going up to way over 400, 500, 600% percent poverty level. People making $200,000 a year, a family of four, are getting these subsidies. I think we should dial them down over the next two to three years and give us a chance to fix health care, to drive down the price of health care, which is the true problem.”
On whether or not the Trump Administration will have an off-ramp after the shutdown begins:
“Oh, I think that after three or five days of this, people will find religion on this, and after they see what the President is doing, and he executes some of those, then I think the Democrats find religion again. I think this is a political question for Chuck Schumer. That his base, his far-left base, crucified him when he kept the government open in the spring. And he’s afraid to do that again. He’s afraid that AOC is going to primary him, all those things are going on. So, to him, it’s a political decision. And you and I are talking logic right now.”
On potential layoffs during the government shutdown:
“I think that the President is a world champion negotiator, and he’s negotiating through the press in many ways. I think you always try to make the best of a bad situation, try to take lemons and turn it into lemonade. I think that’s what he’s saying. But I think he’s negotiating.”
On how the shutdown could possibly end:
“I think so. And your guess is as good as mine. I don’t think Chuck Schumer knows. So, we do know the ball is in his court. That all he has to agree to is this simple extension, 24 pages. I think it is for about four or five weeks as well, and then we can keep negotiating on and all those other things, those Covid subsidies we’re talking about. Those extra subsidies won’t expire until the end of the year. So, let’s talk about those. I think in the meantime, we can get moving on that, and that we could surely walk and chew gum at the same time.”
On the drug prices announcement by President Trump and what it means for pharma companies:
“Yeah, and I’ve been having these private conversations with Big Pharma as well. I think they are sticking together, and they’re trying to force these foreign countries to pay their share. So, to speak. 80% of their business, though, is in the United States. 80% of their income is from selling these drugs in the United States. I think that by working with Secretary Bessent, USTR Secretary Greer, as well, that we’re going to find some sweet spot to this. I know it’s not simple.
“I do think if you want me to save Medicare, though, I need a drug for Alzheimer’s, and we can’t kill the golden goose here. We need pharma to keep innovating. So, we got to we’re going to have to figure it out, and I think there’ll be some headwinds, and we’ll have to change our way as we go into the wind.”
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Contact: Payton Fuller
