Shaheen: "We need to put the shutdown behind us, end the circular firing squad"

Washington — Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat who helped facilitate the deal to end the shutdown last week, said Sunday that lawmakers need to put the shutdown behind them as they look for consensus to address health care costs. 

"We need to put the shutdown behind us, end the circular firing squad, and remember why we're in this situation," Shaheen said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan." 

Shaheen said "we're in this situation because Donald Trump and Speaker Johnson and the Republican majorities in the House and Senate refused to address the cost of health care," adding that lawmakers need to reach consensus to get a bipartisan bill to address health care costs out of Congress.

Democrats had sought an agreement to extend expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits in return for their votes to reopen the government. But on the 40th day of the shutdown, eight Senate Democrats, including Shaheen, broke ranks to reach a deal with Republicans to end the funding lapse, securing a promise to hold a vote next month on the tax credits, which help millions of Americans pay for health insurance premiums for plans purchased on state exchanges. 

Now, Democrats have an opportunity, and a short timeline, to move forward with the legislation of their choice to address the expiring tax credits. Exactly what that looks like, and whether it could find enough support to pass, remains to be seen.

Shaheen said with the legislation, "we ought to be able to agree on some changes, like capping the income of people who receive those premium tax credits," along with seeking to root out fraud and abuse within the program.

"So let's focus on what we can agree to," she said. "Let's look at what we can get done in the timeframe we have, and recognize there is real urgency to get these premium tax credits extended."

The New Hampshire Democrat, who worked with Republicans to come to the deal to end the shutdown, said Democrats need to work with their Republican colleagues to come up with a bill that can find support in both chambers. She said "we've been talking to our Republicans, Sen. Cassidy, throughout the shutdown about what we might be able to agree to," along with House members on both sides of the aisle. 

Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican who also appeared on "Face the Nation," said he's been in communication with the White House about a plan to bring down the cost of health care for Americans. But the plan takes a different approach, giving Americans money to help them offset high deductibles that are often a feature of the lower-cost policies under the ACA. The president has floated a similar idea. 

But Shaheen cast doubt on the plan, expressing urgency to address the health care costs in the short-term. 

"We can work together, we can extend the credits, but we probably can't implement significant reforms that Sen. Cassidy was talking about in the time frame that we've got," Shaheen said. "So we need to look both in the short term and in the long term for how we address the cost of health care."