By Faith Jessie
ATLANTA — On the ninth day of the federal government shutdown, U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath is calling on House Speaker Mike Johnson to reopen the House and bring lawmakers back to the negotiating table. She and other Democrats warn that the ongoing stalemate is putting millions of Americans, including Georgia families, at risk of losing access to affordable health care.
Speaking with 11Alive, McBath said she and fellow Georgia Democrats have urged Speaker Johnson to “open the House back up for business” so they can “negotiate a path to opening the government back up.” The congresswoman joined her colleagues to send a formal letter to Speaker Johnson urging immediate negotiations to reopen the government.
We urge @SpeakerJohnson to call @HouseGOP back to Washington immediately to engage in good-faith bipartisan efforts to address these issues. Our constituents get up each morning & come to work. With Georgians’ health care on the line and government funding expired, they expect… pic.twitter.com/XnkKHpxtzE
— Rep. Hank Johnson (@RepHankJohnson) October 7, 2025
McBath said Republicans’ refusal to engage on healthcare policy threatens to devastate working families as enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits are set to expire at the end of the month.
“We have never had a situation like this where the Republican Party, under the leadership of this President, has said, we are not willing to negotiate,” McBath said. “We're not willing to come to the table and that this is take it or leave it. Even though they know that millions of Americans, people that they actually represent, are going to be drastically hurt by the loss of their health care. But they really don't seem to care.”
On Thursday, McBath met with TSA employees at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and staff from the Atlanta Community Food Bank, groups she said are feeling the strain of the shutdown.
“When these tax credits expire, every single member of Congress has individual constituents that we represent that are on this ACA health care marketplace, and they're going to see by November 1st, when they go into the marketplace to register for their health care choices, even before then, they're going to see a drastic increase in their health care premiums,” McBath said.
This week, Republican Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene made headlines in what seemed to be a rare moment of common ground with Democrats. While she continues to be a vocal critic of the Affordable Care Act, Rep. Greene said she did not want to see health care premiums double. McBath noted the rare point of agreement with her Georgia colleagues.
“I may not agree with my Republican colleague on everything that she says or does, but in this instance, I absolutely concur with her. She's right,” said McBath.
The Senate on Thursday once again failed to pass a stopgap funding bill, prolonging the shutdown as military families brace for their final paycheck on Oct. 15.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune weighed in on social media, writing, “Democrats couldn’t care less whether military families miss a paycheck tomorrow. But we're only a handful of votes away from ensuring that our troops are paid fully and on time.”
As the shutdown continues, McBath’s message to Speaker Johnson was clear: “It’s time to get back to work.”