Capitol News

Following a recent vote in the U.S. Senate on government funding, Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel expressed support for Senators Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin. Both senators voted against a Republican-backed deal, which Democrats argue does not address rising health care costs.

Hertel released a statement saying, “Michigan Democrats are proud of Senators Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin for voting no on a deal that does nothing to lower the cost of health care for working families across Michigan. For weeks, Republicans have been playing politics with people’s lives and refuse to do anything about a health care crisis that is hurting countless Michiganders. While a handful of Democrats caved and should be embarrassed, let’s be clear, every Republican member has stood in lockstep to raise the price of healthcare and used food as a weapon to pass tax cuts for the richest Americans."

He continued, “Senators Peters and Slotkin have been clear since the beginning of this government funding fight: health care costs must come down. As costs go up, it will be because Republicans like Mike Rogers, John James, Bill Huizenga, and Tom Barrett put billionaires first and Michiganders last. We are proud of the majority of Democrats and Democratic leadership that stood strong, and we will continue to fight to hold Republicans accountable for this awful bill. We will not bend the knee to the robbing of Americans’ health care to pay for gilded ballrooms or tax cuts for billionaires.”

The vote highlighted divisions between party members over how best to address federal spending and health care expenses.