adminThe government shutdown that began at 12:01 a.m. on October 1, 2025 has exposed the rotten core of Washington politics and put the bitter fight over health care squarely in the nation’s crosshairs. Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma has been blunt about who he believes is responsible and why the fight matters to hardworking Americans who are fed up with Washington games. This is not abstract policy theater — it is about rising costs, threatened services, and a government that too often answers to special interests instead of taxpayers.
Mullin has repeatedly said Republicans will not negotiate major policy changes while the government remains closed, and he’s accused Democratic leaders of playing political games with people’s lives. That message matters because voters sent Republicans to Congress to stop the endless bailouts and to demand accountability, not to hand Democrats what amounts to a blank check. Conservatives should cheer Mullin for standing his ground instead of folding to a ransom-style demand.
At the center of this impasse are Democrat demands to extend and expand Affordable Care Act subsidies and to lock in funding for Medicaid expansions — items they insist must be tied to any funding bill to reopen government. Democrats are treating health care like leverage instead of a public service, demanding permanent policy victories in exchange for the routine business of keeping the lights on. That approach is raw politics that risks cementing higher premiums and bigger entitlements without real reform to lower costs.
Republicans, including Mullin, are right to insist that Congress restore funding first and then negotiate reforms from a normal legislative posture; negotiating while parts of government are shut is negotiating with a gun to the head of the American people. When the other side treats governing as hostage-taking, the right response is to call it out and bring work back to the people’s business. Americans deserve thoughtful policy change — not ransom demands that reward Washington’s worst instincts.
Conservatives should be clear-eyed about the solutions that actually lower costs: price transparency, expanded Health Savings Accounts, tort reform, and allowing insurers to compete across state lines — not permanently expanding subsidies that paper over the problem and grow dependency. If Democrats insist on locking in entitlement largesse, voters will rightly demand a comprehensive plan that contains costs rather than dumps them on future taxpayers. Even reporting shows that talks may come after the shutdown ends, but the terms must be about reform, not reward.
Now is the time for Republicans to stand firm, defend taxpayers, and insist that any post-shutdown negotiations actually tackle the root causes of rising health care costs. Senator Mullin’s forecast that political timing around upcoming elections could influence when this ends only underscores the cynical game Democrats are playing — and why conservatives must not blink. We owe it to veterans, families, and small-business owners to win reforms that make care affordable without surrendering governing to hostage-taking politics.
