Miller-Meeks blames Democrats for shutdown, opposes ACA subsidy extension

Iowa Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks on Friday blamed Democrats for the ongoing federal government shutdown, criticized efforts to extend Affordable Care Act tax subsidies, and expressed cautious support for President Donald Trump’s tariff-and-trade approach to aid struggling farmers.

The shutdown entered its third day Friday with no breakthrough in negotiations.

Competing Republican and Democratic funding bills once again failed in the Senate on Friday, leaving Congress at an impasse over enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies. With the Senate not scheduled to meet over the weekend, the standoff is expected to continue into next week.

  Buy Photo

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has warned that thousands of federal employees could soon face layoffs. President Donald Trump said he has directed former budget director Russ Vought, a leading architect of Project 2025, to identify government jobs for elimination, though the White House would not say whether it is adhering to that policy plan.

Miller-Meeks, in a call with reporters on Friday, said Democrats were holding the government “hostage” by insisting on “$1.5 trillion in new spending and taxpayer-funded health care for illegal immigrants” instead of supporting a short-term, seven-week funding extension.

“This is not just a policy failure, it’s a moral failure,” Miller-Meeks said, adding she is forgoing her congressional salary during the shutdown and noted she cosponsored legislation to ensure troops continue to be paid.

Democrats are seeking to permanently extend enhanced tax credits set to expire at the end of the year that lower monthly health insurance premiums for millions of American families, and are also pushing to reverse Medicaid cuts included in the sweeping tax and spending bill Trump signed into law in July.

The law Trump signed also restricts health care eligibility for many lawfully present immigrants by amending federal law governing Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and other health care programs by narrowing the list of immigrant groups who qualify for federally funded health coverage. Democrats are looking to reverse that.

Immigrants in the U.S. illegally are not eligible for any federal health care programs, including insurance provided through the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid, according to the Associated Press.

Hospitals do receive Medicaid reimbursements — which would be reduced under Trump’s bill — for emergency care that they are obligated to provide to people who meet other Medicaid eligibility requirements but do not have an eligible immigration status, according to KFF, a nonprofit health policy organization.

Miller-Meeks pushed back on Democrats’ claims that their funding proposal would not allow unauthorized immigrants to receive taxpayer-funded health care.

  Buy Photo

She argued that “loopholes, gimmicks and state-level abuse” already funnel billions of dollars in Medicaid spending to undocumented residents through emergency care and the failure of some states to verify legal status. She said Democrats’ continuing resolution would repeal safeguards she and other Republicans backed in the law to explicitly prohibit coverage for unauthorized immigrants.

Democrats countered that Republicans are mischaracterizing the debate. The Iowa Democratic Party said extending Affordable Care Act subsidies would protect more than 110,000 Iowans from steep premium hikes.

“Republicans have clearly shown they do not intend to compromise,” Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said, accusing GOP lawmakers of misleading voters about undocumented immigrants’ access to coverage.

ACA subsidies fight

A key sticking point in negotiations is whether to extend enhanced ACA premium tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of 2025. Miller-Meeks strongly opposes an extension, calling them a “bailout for insurance companies” and a “handouts to the rich.”

The enhanced subsidies were initially passed as temporary measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Miller-Meeks distinguished between the original ACA subsidies, available up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level, and the expanded credits Democrats enacted during the pandemic that temporarily extended eligibility for assistance to incomes above that limit through 2025. She argued those temporary subsidies were designed to mask the ACA’s rising costs and delay premium increases ahead of elections.

"It diverts people from using their employer-based health insurance," Miller-Meeks said. "It subsidizes the insurance companies so there is no incentive for them to lower costs."

Instead, she said Congress should pursue market-based reforms, including expanded association health plans, allowing individuals to band together to purchase insurance, and increase the use and availability of health savings accounts, particularly for lower- and middle-income people, to help them develop health insurance plans tailored to their needs.

“I think it’s interesting that on one hand, the Democrats said that we gave tax cuts to the rich … but yet here they’re directly trying to extend a tax cut to higher income individuals,” she said.

She emphasized her willingness to work on further reforms to stabilize the individual insurance market and lower costs, but only after Democrats agree to reopen the government.

Recommended Reading

From farmers to cancer survivors, Iowans share fears of losing ACA subsidies

“I grew up in a low-income household where both parents work,” Miller-Meeks said. “My father had one military paycheck that came every month, and where missing a paycheck could mean falling behind on bills, missing meals.

“ … millions of Americans are in the very same position that my father and my family was in, and they're being put there deliberately by Democrats who would rather play politics than govern responsibly.”

Trump’s tariffs and farm economy

Miller-Meeks also addressed Iowa farmers’ concerns over trade and commodity markets, and Trump’s recent plan to use tariff revenues to offset farm losses.

  Buy Photo

She said Iowa farmers have been under growing financial strain since 2022, citing high inflation, soaring fertilizer and input costs, and declining commodity prices. She criticized the lack of new trade deals or expanded markets under former President Joe Biden, arguing that farmers need broader access to sell their products.

She pointed to ongoing efforts to pass a farm bill, expand biofuels tax credits, and promote new markets through trade missions like Iowa’s recent trip to India. Farmers, she said, are also concerned about unfair trade practices from countries such as China, including currency manipulation.

“Most farmers, they don't want money. They want to be able to farm and do the work that they do,” Miller-Meeks said, adding that sustainable aviation fuel initiatives and expanded biofuels blending requirements could provide important new opportunities.

“So we're going to continue to work to support farmers and do those things that give them the assurance that they can continue to work in the profession that they find enjoyable, and that they can encourage their children to go into farming as well,” she said.

On Trump’s tariff strategy, she said some sectors benefit while others are harmed, but stressed that farmers ultimately want “fair trade.”

“I think that we're waiting to see what's happening with these recent trade negotiations, and that the tariffs will lessen,” she said.

Hinson echoes shutdown blame, looks to Trump’s farm aid

Miller-Meeks’ Republican colleague, U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, voiced similar positions during a stop Thursday in Eldridge. Hinson, who is running for U.S. Senate in 2026, said she expects an announcement “next week” from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on potential farm relief tied to Trump’s trade strategy.

  Buy Photo

“President Trump’s making sure that our farmers are going to be taken care of, and we’re looking forward to an announcement … on what we might be able to do to help support our American agriculture industry,” Hinson, of Marion, said, adding that the U.S. needs a “level playing field” through new trade agreements.

"I think President Trump is doing the right thing to try to get China to the table and a lot of our other trading partners to come to the table and get a better deal, but we do need to make sure that we have the ability to feed and fuel the world, and so that is something I know they're taking very seriously and President Trump will not abandon Iowa's farmers," Hinson said.

Like Miller-Meeks, Hinson framed the shutdown as the “Schumer shutdown,” accusing Democrats of blocking a funding deal with partisan demands. Asked about Democrats’ push to extend ACA tax credits and reverse Medicaid cuts, Hinson dismissed the proposals as political posturing.

“The only people who needed to worry about losing Medicaid were illegal immigrants or people gaming the system,” Hinson said. “So, I think that's a nonstarter with us. But, again, they need to have a serious proposal and what they are doing is holding the government funding hostage over something that doesn't even expire until the end of the year.”

Sarah Watson of the Quad-City Times contributed to this report.

Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com