Colorado Democrats in Congress are holding firm on their refusal to back a Republican-led government funding bill, even as a key faction of their party has agreed to pass the GOP measure needed to reopen the government. 

With the federal shutdown hitting the 40-day mark on Sunday — the longest shutdown in history — seven Senate Democrats, and one independent who caucuses with Democrats, voted with Republicans to advance a funding bill that could end the stalemate. 

The deal would serve as a temporary fix, extending government funding through Jan. 30, and also delivers on some of Democrats’ demands, including reversing mass firings of federal workers that have happened since the shutdown began on Oct. 1. 

The funding bill does not, however, contain what Democrats wanted most: an extension of health care subsidies for Affordable Care Act marketplace plans that are set to expire on Dec. 31. The subsidies, known as the enhanced premium tax credit, were first passed under Democrats in 2021 and extended in 2022. 

Senate Republican leadership has instead promised a separate vote in December on the tax credits, as part of the deal to reopen the government. 

Health advocates blasted the shutdown deal on Sunday. 

Mannat Singh, executive director of the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative, said in a statement that the deal is “most likely a delay tactic by the GOP to let the tax credits expire at the end of the year.”

“Republicans’ vaguely promising to vote on – not necessarily pass – healthcare subsidies in December is not enough; they need to extend the tax credits now,” Singh said. “Delaying the extension of the tax credits will cause chaos and confusion, as states will have to implement changes quickly over a month into open enrollment.”

While the vote on Sunday cleared a procedural hurdle to begin debate on the proposed funding bill, it will still need to clear a 60-vote threshold in the Senate and pass the House with a simple

majority before President Donald Trump can sign it into law. Republicans control both chambers of Congress. 

Colorado’s two Democratic U.S. senators, Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, both voted against advancing the funding bill because it did not ensure the health care subsidies would be extended. 

“Instead of bringing forward a plan to extend the health care premium tax credits, President Trump and Washington Republicans have chosen once again to make it harder for everyday Americans to buy health care for themselves and their families,” Bennet said in a statement. 

“Today’s bills failed to address skyrocketing health care premiums caused by the Republican ‘Big Bad Bill,'” Hickenlooper said in a statement, referencing Republicans’ tax law, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed this summer. “Every Senate Democrat believes every American should have health care, but Republicans refused to come to the table and work to tackle the health care crisis.”

Colorado Democrats in the House also vowed to oppose the funding bill if it passes the Senate and moves to the lower chamber. 

“I’ll be voting NO,” U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, a high-ranking House Democrat who represents Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District, wrote in a post on X. 

Democrats say that without an extension of the health care subsidies, insurance premiums for roughly 22 million Americans who buy their own health coverage could increase dramatically next year. 

Insurance premiums on Connect for Health Colorado, the state-run marketplace serving roughly 300,000 people, are set to double on average in 2026, according to the Colorado Division of Insurance. 

A Colorado law passed during a special legislative session in August, which boosted funding for state health care programs by $110 million, will provide some relief. 

Still, state officials said the measure won’t be enough to stave off large premium increases, which could be most severe in rural areas. On the Western Slope, for example, annual premiums could jump anywhere from $16,000 to $21,000 for a standard silver level plan, the state insurance division said. 

The eight Democratic caucus lawmakers who voted to advance the government funding bill on Sunday were Sens. Angus King of Maine, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Tim Kaine of Virginia, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, both of Nevada. 

The senators largely said they agreed to the deal because they did not believe Republicans would ever agree to include an extension of health care subsidies in the funding bill and were eager to reopen the government after weeks of grueling gridlock that has led to flight cancellations and delays at airports and lapses in food assistance benefits. 

Republicans remain largely critical of the Affordable Care Act, which they have tried and failed to repeal several times since its passage in 2010. They’ve opposed subsidies for the program — not a single Republican voted for the enhanced tax credits when first passed in 2021 and again in 2022 — which they say does not address the true cost pressures on health care. 

Still, some Republicans said they are open to negotiating on the health care subsidies, but only after government funding is restored. 

U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, a Grand Junction Republican who represents Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, is among a bipartisan group of House lawmakers proposing a two-year extension of the subsidies, along with income caps and measures meant to reduce fraud. 

Hurd joined other Republican lawmakers in sending a letter to Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson urging him to prioritize the subsidy issue after the government is reopened. 

“Using the shutdown as leverage to force that debate only prolongs the harm and distracts from the immediate task of reopening the government,” the lawmakers wrote. “Once the government is reopened, however, we should immediately turn our focus to the growing crisis of healthcare affordability and the looming expiration of the enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits.”

Republicans also blame Democrats for setting the tax credits’ expiration date for the end of 2025, saying in their letter that “while we did not create this crisis, we now have both the responsibility and the opportunity to address it.'”