Pick your battles (WH blinking!) [View all]

...looks like Dems picked exactly the right issue to defend in the shutdown fight.


The Wall Street Journal @WSJ 1h
Inside the White House, concerns are growing that the issue at the center of the government-shutdown debate—healthcare subsidies—will cost the Republicans in the 2026 midterms

WSJ: White House Senses Political Risk on Healthcare Despite Shutdown Bravado

Advisers are worried that the GOP will take the blame for allowing healthcare subsidies to expire, raising costs for millions of Americans ahead of next year’s midterm elections, according to administration officials.

Inside the White House, aides are discussing proposals to extend the enhanced subsidies for Affordable Care Act health-insurance plans, the officials said. Trump hasn’t yet decided whether he will endorse such a proposal, according to the officials. Republicans say they will only hold negotiations with Democrats on the matter after the government is reopened.

The closed-door hand-wringing stands in contrast to the public bravado conveyed by the president and his top advisers. Trump has posted artificial-intelligence videos of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) wearing a sombrero. And he has said the shutdown gives his administration an “unprecedented opportunity” to make far-reaching cuts and target programs favored by Democrats. The administration is preparing to oust thousands of federal workers.

Trump’s advisers have privately acknowledged this week that although their boss has long called for repealing Obamacare, allowing the subsidies to expire could cause political headaches for a president who was elected in large part because of voter frustrations with inflation and the rising cost of living. Voters have expressed deepening frustration with Trump’s handling of the economy in recent polls amid a weak jobs market and stubborn inflation.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/white-house-senses-political-risk-on-healthcare-despite-shutdown-bravado/ar-AA1NLoA0

Devastating leaks from the WH.

Trump is blinking.