Two Weeks In: Wisconsin Republicans Drag Out Government Shutdown to Raise Health Care Costs for Wisconsinites

MADISON, Wis. — It’s been two weeks since Wisconsin’s congressional delegation, led by Tom Tiffany, Derrick Van Orden and Bryan Steil, shut down the government because they wanted to strip health care funding from Wisconsinites. As the open enrollment period looms and health care premiums are set to more than double for many working families, the delegation, which found over a trillion dollars in tax breaks for billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, is doing back flips and lying to justify their attempts to rip health care away from everyday Wisconsinites. When asked about continuing the funding, Tom Tiffany replied, “We can’t do that.”

“Tom Tiffany, Derrick Van Orden and Bryan Steil, and their Republican colleagues in Washington are willing to pay for tax breaks so billionaires like Elon Musk can buy another yacht, but health care funding for working Wisconsinites is apparently just too expensive,” said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Communications Director Philip Shulman. “This is an outright betrayal—make no mistake, Wisconsin Republicans are selling out their constituents to the highest bidding billionaire.”

And it’s not just health care funding. As the Republican shutdown continues, the Social Security Administration has been forced into its contingency plan. With the SSA operational budget going unfunded, Wisconsinites will be unable to get customer service for issues like benefit verifications and overpayment processing—an added hardship to those already on tight monthly budgets.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.