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Sen. Elizabeth Warren says Democrats’ government shutdown fight is ‘righteous’

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, speaks during a rally opposing House Republicans Tax Proposal prior to the final House vote on Capitol Hill on May 21. in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Families Over Billionaires)
Jemal Countess / Getty Images
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, speaks during a rally opposing House Republicans Tax Proposal prior to the final House vote on Capitol Hill on May 21. in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Families Over Billionaires)

Updated September 30, 2025 at 13:09 PM ET

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren says Democrats’ fight to extend healthcare tax credits that millions rely on and to restore healthcare spending cuts made by Republicans is “righteous” even with a federal government shutdown almost certain.

On Monday, top Congressional leaders walked away from a meeting with President Trump without an agreement to fund the government. That means if a deal isn’t reached in the next few hours, funding for the federal government runs out at midnight.

Democrats have been adamant that if Republicans want their support to pass a spending bill, Congress needs to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits that are set to expire at the end of the year. More than 24 million people buy their own marketplace insurance and most use the credits to afford their monthly healthcare premiums, according to health policy research group KFF. If the credits expire, premiums are likely to increase in cost for those who use them.

Democrats also want health care spending cuts made by Trump’s signature legislation — the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — restored.

Speaking to NPR’s Morning Edition, Warren said Democrats don’t want to shut the government down, but found that Republicans weren’t willing to negotiate.

“Democrats are not going to stand by while millions of people lose their health insurance. Democrats are not going to stand by while moms with newborn babies can’t get care, while seniors are thrown out of nursing homes while your neighbor with a disability loses his home health aide and can no longer live independently,” Warren said.

Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota told Fox News on Monday that Democrats should not hold the federal government “hostage” and vote for a “nonpartisan” spending bill currently sitting in the Senate. He also said he was willing to work with Democrats on the ACA subsidies after the government is funded.

Warren said what Democrats are asking for isn’t part of a new negotiation, and described the looming effect of healthcare spending cuts as a “crisis” that will “cause a lot of pain to tens of millions of families.”

“Sometimes you gotta stand and fight and now is that time,” Warren added.

You can listen to the full interview by clicking play on the button at the top of this article.

This digital article was edited by Treye Green. The radio version was edited by HJ Mai and produced by Nia Dumas.

Copyright 2025 NPR

Michel Martin is the weekend host of All Things Considered and host of the Consider This Saturday podcast, where she draws on her deep reporting and interviewing experience to dig in to the week's news. Outside the studio, she has also hosted "Michel Martin: Going There," an ambitious live event series in collaboration with Member Stations.

Martin came to NPR in 2006 and launched Tell Me More, a one-hour daily NPR news and talk show that aired on NPR stations nationwide from 2007-2014 and dipped into thousands of important conversations taking place in the corridors of power, but also in houses of worship, and barber shops and beauty shops, at PTA meetings, town halls, and at the kitchen table.

She has spent more than 25 years as a journalist — first in print with major newspapers and then in television. Tell Me More marked her debut as a full-time public radio show host. Martin says, "What makes public radio special is that it's got both intimacy and reach all at once. For the cost of a phone call, I can take you around the world. But I'm right there with you in your car, in your living room or kitchen or office, in your iPod. Radio itself is an incredible tool and when you combine that with the global resources of NPR plus the commitment to quality, responsibility and civility, it's an unbeatable combination."

Martin has also served as contributor and substitute host for NPR newsmagazines and talk shows, including Talk of the Nation and News & Notes.

Martin joined NPR from ABC News, where she worked since 1992. She served as correspondent for Nightline from 1996 to 2006, reporting on such subjects as the congressional budget battles, the U.S. embassy bombings in Africa, racial profiling and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. At ABC, she also contributed to numerous programs and specials, including the network's award-winning coverage of Sept. 11, a documentary on the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas controversy, a critically acclaimed AIDS special and reports for the ongoing series "America in Black and White." Martin reported for the ABC newsmagazine Day One, winning an Emmy for her coverage of the international campaign to ban the use of landmines, and was a regular panelist on This Week with George Stephanopoulos. She also hosted the 13-episode series Life 360, an innovative program partnership between Oregon Public Broadcasting and Nightline incorporating documentary film, performance and personal narrative; it aired on public television stations across the country.

Before joining ABC, Martin covered state and local politics for the Washington Post and national politics and policy at the Wall Street Journal, where she was White House correspondent. She has also been a regular panelist on the PBS series Washington Week and a contributor to NOW with Bill Moyers.

Martin has been honored by numerous organizations, including the Candace Award for Communications from The National Coalition of 100 Black Women, the Joan Barone Award for Excellence in Washington-based National Affairs/Public Policy Broadcasting from the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association and a 2002 Silver Gavel Award, given by the American Bar Association. Along with her Emmy award, she received three additional Emmy nominations, including one with WNYC's Robert Krulwich, at the time an ABC contributor as well, for an ABC News program examining children's racial attitudes. In 2019, Martin was elected into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for outstanding achievement in journalism. She is the 2021 recipient of PMJA's 2021 Leo C. Lee Award.

A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Martin graduated cum laude from Radcliffe College at Harvard University in 1980 and earned a Master of Arts from the Wesley Theological Seminary in 2016.

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