I will keep working in the Senate to bring costs down and relieve the pressure on working families who are already paying more because of President Trump’s policies that are driving prices up instead of lowering them.

Families are already struggling with rising prices on everything from groceries to housing.

We owe the American people more than a short-term fix that leaves working families staring down a health care crisis, and simply kicking the can down the road is not good enough.

But I cannot support a deal that still leaves millions of Americans wondering how they are going to pay for their health care or whether they will be able to afford to get sick.

I appreciate that this proposal includes important language preventing further mass layoffs of federal employees. That’s a critical step in protecting our public servants from this administration’s campaign of retribution, and something I’ve long pushed for.

I want nothing more than to reopen the government, get folks back to work, and end the needless hardship this Republican shutdown is causing.