As the government shutdown enters its 24th day with no end in sight, White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair says the Trump administration has no intention of backing down on the dispute at the heart of the impasse: the expiring enhanced Obamacare premium tax credits.
In an interview with Punchbowl News on Thursday, Blair – who oversees legislative, political and public affairs for President Trump – framed the credits as “subsidies to insurance companies,” signaling that the administration is unwilling to negotiate on their extension.
“These insurance subsidies, and to be clear, these are subsidies to insurance companies,” Blair said. “They don’t actually go to people. They’ve been artificially masking the cost of premiums. OK? They put these in during the Covid era.… [Democrats] voted not once, but twice, to make this program temporary that we’re now discussing and for them to expire.”
Blair accused Democrats of creating “a sideshow” around the subsidies “because they don’t want to admit there’s bigger issues that they’re not focused on,” and said it was Democrats who “set up this ticking time bomb to begin with.”
Republicans in Congress have long struggled to come up with an alternative to Obamacare for 15 years – however Blair suggested Trump intends to reopen that debate, saying the administration will push for a “broader overhaul” of health policy once the government reopens.
“We’re not just talking about Obamacare,” Blair said. “We’re not even talking about the repeal of Obamacare. We’re talking about making health care more affordable.… The president wants to make life affordable for people, he wants to make health care affordable for people. He’s been talking about this for years.… [O]pen the government. Let’s find a solution. Let’s figure out what we’re going to do together, but you have to open the government.”
According to Blair, the White House also plans to enlist pharmaceutical companies to “come to the table” to help reduce prescription-drug costs. Some Republicans are urging their leadership to use the party-line budget reconciliation process as the vehicle for such a health-care package, though Senate GOP leaders have shown little enthusiasm for what they call a “Reconciliation 2.0” effort.
Trump’s Political Operation Gears Up for 2026
Blair also discussed the president’s plans for the 2026 midterm cycle. He said Trump will draw from his own political war chest – hundreds of millions of dollars in available funds – to bolster Republican candidates and has already begun covertly spending in races across the country.
“It’s very important for the president that Republicans keep control of the House and Senate,” Blair said, pointing to what he called favorable “macro markers of the political environment,” including voter registration and polling trends.
Blair cited improvement in Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-TX) numbers ahead of a competitive primary and called Rep. Wesley Hunt’s entry into the Senate race a “wild card.” Trump, he said, would spend his own money “if it’s absolutely necessary” to keep the seat in Republican hands.
He also rejected skepticism from Indiana GOP leaders who doubt the legislature can pass a redistricting plan, saying, “I think we’ll see how Indiana continues to evolve, but I don’t think that’s a correct assessment.”
Shutdown Stalemate Deepens
Meanwhile, Congress remains at a standstill as the shutdown enters its fourth week. The Senate adjourned until Monday, virtually guaranteeing another lost weekend of negotiations.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is considering votes next week on narrow measures to fund military pay and air-traffic-control operations in an effort to pressure Democrats. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has refused to bring the House back until Democrats agree to broader government-funding terms.
On Thursday, Senate Democrats blocked a bill from Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) that would have paid federal employees working without pay, arguing it would give the White House too much discretion. A Democratic alternative from Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) also failed.
Thune said he was open to combining the proposals but blamed Democrats for prolonging the impasse. “I can’t explain the level of dysfunction on their side right now,” he said. “But they’re consistently shifting their messaging, which, to me, suggests they really don’t know how to get out of this right now.”
A Johnson spokesperson said the senator “will work diligently and in good faith to find agreement between the two sides in order to pay federal workers during the shutdown.”
Political Fallout and the 2026 Landscape
The standoff is already reshaping political calculations heading into 2026. Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock of Georgia joined Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) in voting for Johnson’s bill – making them the only Democrats to back it.
Ossoff, viewed as one of the most vulnerable Democrats facing reelection, cited the impact on Georgia’s large federal workforce and major installations, including Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Republicans seized on his record. “Jon Ossoff could’ve easily voted to reopen the government and pay Georgia workers any of the 12 times he voted to keep it closed,” said NRSC spokesperson Nick Puglia.
Warnock defended the Democratic position, arguing Republicans are “holding federal workers hostage.”
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