In news from our nation’s capitol, senators are expected to take another vote to end the government shutdown. We are moving into the second week of a stalemate that is affecting federal services because workers have been furloughed.
The Conversation spoke to Sen. Mazie Hirono Monday morning as lawmakers were expected to take another vote.
Interview highlights
On voting to end the government shutdown
SEN. MAZIE HIRONO: This is a series of votes that we've been taking for the last three days to put forth the Democratic proposal that will end the shutdown, and that is by restoring health care to the millions of Americans who are relying on it. And so that is one of the major reasons that we are going to be taking several votes today. … The Republicans have not sat down with us yet, so until they do, they apparently are going to stay in hiding, especially in the House. They're not even in session because the speaker doesn't want his House members to have to be confronted by the problem by their own constituents, who I'm sure by now are contacting their Republican members to say, ‘What's going on?’ Because they are getting their notices of increases in their premiums. And these notices are going to indicate health care, Affordable Care Act premiums, going up from, say, $500 for a family of four to $1,000 a month. That's a huge increase, but they're getting those kinds of premium notices pretty much all across the country, places like Georgia, Louisiana. … So notices are going out regarding these kinds of massive increases on their Affordable Care Act premiums. Families can't afford these kinds of increases, which is why millions of them are going to lose their health insurance. The ripple effect of all of that is going to be massive on our health care system.
On other agencies affected by the shutdown
HIRONO: Even before the shutdown, agencies like the VA [Department of Veterans Affairs] have been cut substantially so that the people who call the VA would get a recording, or they wouldn't get information they needed. That was already happening before the shutdown because we have a regime that is very busy dismantling government agencies, except for the Department of Defense — I refuse to call it Department of War because only the Congress can make that kind of change — and Homeland Security. They have so much money that they could afford to give people $50,000 in bonuses to sign up to become an ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agent. So aside from the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security, pretty much all other departments prior to the shutdown were massively cut of workers. Hundreds of thousands of workers were either fired or they were given early retirement for getting paid to do nothing.
On lawsuits filed against the Trump administration
HIRONO: There are already 300 lawsuits, and more are filed every day, including in Portland and Chicago. They're filing a lawsuit because they don't want the National Guard troops coming into their cities, creating a situation which could lead to violence. … So there are hundreds of lawsuits to stop Trump from his lawlessness, and we're counting on the courts. The federal judge in Portland just stayed troops being sent to Portland, but that this is not going to stop the regime from continuing to have ICE agents bust into people's homes, arresting people, including children and U.S. citizens who are being detained, some of them for days and hours. So this is what is going on in our country, and if we Democrats lie flat and let them roll over us, this kind of lawlessness will continue.
On fighting for health care for Americans
HIRONO: I know what it's like not to have health care because I grew up as an immigrant not having health care. My mom worked really low-paying jobs when we first got to this country, and she had no health care. And as a child, my greatest fear was that she would get sick, and if she got sick, she couldn't go to work, and if she didn't go to work, there's no pay. … And so I know what it's like for families to face these kinds of concerns. And really, before the Affordable Care Act was passed, there were a lot of individual bankruptcies filed because massive, unpredictable health costs really harmed a lot of families to the point where so many of them would have to file for bankruptcy. I think we're going to see an increase in personal bankruptcy due to unexpected massive health care costs.
This story aired on The Conversation on Oct. 6, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this interview for the web.
