Representatives Valerie Foushee and Deborah Ross, the Democrats who represent most of the Triangle’s population, are not at all pleased about the resolution that reopened the government last week.
“While I am relieved that workers will finally be paid and federal services will resume, I could not, in good conscience, vote for a continuing resolution that ignores the root causes of this crisis,” Foushee said at a press conference with Ross and Charlotte-area representative Alma Adams on Friday.
Most House Democrats voted against the resolution, arguing that any deal to end the shutdown must include the extensions of Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies and a rollback of previous Medicaid cuts. In the Senate, eight Democrats joined with Republicans to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government.
The end of the shutdown also means relief for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients, which includes more than 125,000 Triangle residents and 1.4 million North Carolinians. As the Trump administration tried to avoid SNAP payouts during the shutdown, local foodbanks were increasingly forced to take on the near impossible task of filling in that gap.
A longer shutdown also may have caused issues for local governments, which would have eventually run into grant funding issues if the federal government remained closed.
But Foushee listed several anecdotes from constituents whose costs are expected to balloon if the ACA tax credits expire at the end of the year. Amber from Pittsboro, she said, received notice that her premiums will jump 775 percent to over $700 a month. Jonathan in Chapel Hill, who has a spouse with leukemia, will see premiums increase by $7,000.
Those credits, introduced in 2021, help a majority of the 24 million people enrolled in ACA plans to afford insurance, per nonprofit KFF.
“These are not isolated stories,” said Foushee. “Across our communities, there are countless families, small business owners, owners, retirees, seniors, and others diagnosed with serious illnesses that will soon face impossible choices. Many may be forced to skip medications, delay doctors visits, or go without treatments altogether because they cannot afford care.”
Ross railed against Republican leadership, especially blaming Speaker Mike Johnson for keeping the House out of session for even longer than the shutdown lasted.
With the government now funded, Ross acknowledged that Democrats, as the current minority party, don’t have all that much leverage left under the simple majority voting rules in the house.
“A no vote is what we can do. It’s how we can protest,” she said.
Prompted by a question from WCHL’s Brighton McConnell, Foushee and Ross both drew comparisons between the shutdown and the inaction by North Carolina’s legislature, which has not yet approved a full budget because the two chambers, both controlled by Republicans, cannot come to an agreement.
The legislature did recently reenter session in order to approve a new congressional map, at the urging of Trump, that makes it likely for the GOP to win an eleventh congressional seat in North Carolina, leaving Adams, Foushee, and Ross in the only three remaining safely Democratic districts. Ross said that vote “shows the kind of stranglehold this president has over the Republican Party, to the detriment of the American people.”
In Raleigh as in Washington, though, Democrats seem to be out of leverage.
“I would urge the people of this state to impress upon their representatives that it is their responsibility to address and resolve the issues that they face every day,” said Foushee.
All seats in the House of Representatives are up for election in 2026. In the Triangle’s solidly blue districts, any serious challenge to Foushee or Ross would emerge in the March primary.
One candidate has already announced his intent to challenge Ross, though the candidate filing period does not open until December 1.
Reach Reporter Chase Pellegrini de Paur at [email protected]. Comment on this story at [email protected].