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>> The federal government
shutdown extends into next

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week, with the US Senate
adjourning until Tuesday

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after repeated failed votes
to reopen. We're joined now

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by Wisconsin Democratic
U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin.

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And Senator, thanks very
much for being here.

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>> Thanks for having me.
>> What is your message to

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Wisconsinites in the face
of what looks like

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congressional dysfunction
as the shutdown grinds on? noboa

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shutdown, and I have voted
seven times now to and

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lower health care costs for
Wisconsinites. And my

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constituents have been
telling me loudly and

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clearly, they are terrified
about the premium increases

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that they see in the near
future. It'll be just a

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couple weeks before
Wisconsinites get those

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dreaded letters in the mail,
telling them what their

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premiums will be next year,
and without an extension of

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the Affordable Care Act,
premium tax credits, we are

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likely to see people's
premiums double, triple,

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even quadruple in those
states that have already

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released the premiums for
next year. Quadrupling is

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not unusual at all, and it
is frightening for

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Wisconsinites. And there's
no reason why we cannot

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reopen the government and
bring down costs. But my

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Republican colleagues and
President Trump refused to

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sit down and negotiate with
us, even though several of

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my Republican colleagues
very much want to fix this

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Affordable Care Act tax
credit issue. And I would

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lastly say this bill that
we, you know, Trump's

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signature big ugly bill
that we debated last summer

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slashes $1 trillion out of
Medicaid and other health

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care program badgercare in
Wisconsin. But it was

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predominantly a tax measure.
And what that tax measure

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did was send tax breaks to
big corporations and

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multimillionaires. And what
it didn't do was extend a

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tax break to working
Wisconsinites to help them

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afford their health care
premiums. This is an

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emergency. It's imminent,
and we need to act now.

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>> Why not vote yes on the
continuing resolution to

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fund the government and
then negotiate?

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>> Look, there is no
promise for a conversation,

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a sort of a wink and a nod
that, oh, we'll bring that

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up later. That is going to
help our Wisconsinites who

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are going to get these
letters in a couple of

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weeks. We need to create
certainty in and replace

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Trump's chaos in the health
care arena and other arenas

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with a vote to extend those
tax credits. Now, listen,

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we are seeing people get
their premium notices right

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now across the country, we
have about 5 million

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Americans who are estimated
to not be able to afford

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the premiums next year. If
we do not act, we must act

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on behalf of tens of
thousands of Wisconsinites

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and millions of Americans.
And it's really critical

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that we not just promise
some conversation in the

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future. That is not
sufficient for the people

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who've been pleading with
me, keep on fighting to

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lower costs.
>> You say that there's an

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easy way out and you've
been working on a

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bipartisan solution. What
is the easy way out and

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what kind of traction are
you getting on on a

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bipartisan solution?
>> My idea and I worked

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with several colleagues on
this, would be to say that

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if we don't act on a longer
term extension, that the

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default position would be
that the Affordable Care

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Act tax credits are
extended by a calendar year.

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But putting pressure on
Congress to talk about some

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reforms in that system, if
we want. I think that's

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fair game. The other thing
we have to get back to is

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letting Congress
appropriate dollars. That

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is the role. It's the role
of Congress as a checks and

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balance to pass laws and to
appropriate dollars for the

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federal government. These
continuing resolutions are

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allowing President Trump to
run roughshod. Since he has

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been president, he's done
layoffs, he's withheld

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federal funds, he's
canceled grants. He's

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basically conducted a
government of chaos. And we

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need to go back to
something that people can

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plan based on, which is our
Congress doing its job. And

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my Republican colleagues
have to stop folding to

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Trump's threats and stand
up and do their jobs as

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duly elected members of
Congress.

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>> I know that the
president has been talking

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about terminating federal
employees, apparently using

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the shutdown as a predicate.
Senator Johnson told us

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last week that when your
company goes bankrupt,

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unfortunately, he said,
people lose their jobs and

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they have to go and find
employment elsewhere. He

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further said he doesn't see
why public sector employees

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all have to experience in
the private sector. What's

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your response to that?
>> Well, first of all,

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President Trump has been
firing federal employees

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and withholding federal
dollars and pulling federal

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grants since day one of his
presidency. Tens of

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thousands of federal
employees have lost their

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jobs because we've been
under a continuing

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resolution. And so this is
a scare tactic on Trump's

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part, but he's been doing
it since day one of his

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second presidency. And as
to layoffs and whatnot in

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the private sector and the
public sector. Look, we've

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gone through planful
restructuring, where we've

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had reductions in forces
before. I held a roundtable

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earlier this year with
employees at the VA, and

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they all recall Clinton era
restructuring, where it was

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planful, and they realized
where they needed to cut

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and not. That's not what
this administration has

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been doing. When Trump
ordered 80,000 people to be

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fired at the V.A. that
wasn't a planful reduction

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in force. That was
scattershot. It was chaos.

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And we owe more to our
veterans than something

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like that.
shutdown, how do you see

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this ending?
>> I think the answer is so

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clear. Let us reopen the
government. Let us extend

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the Affordable Care Act tax
credits, and then let's

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pass our our bills and have
Congress do its job and

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fund the government, not
through these continuing

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resolutions for a week or
two or a month or two, but

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through our regular
appropriations process.

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That's what Congress needs
That's what Congress needs