Democratic support for a potential deal to reopen the government has crumbled because of deep mistrust among Senate Democrats over whether they can trust President Trump to act in good faith to extend health insurance subsidies or to stop firing federal workers.

Senate Democrats on Thursday rejected an emerging proposal to reopen the government that would have linked a stopgap funding bill known as a continuing resolution to three full-year appropriations bills funding military construction, veterans’ affairs, the Department of Agriculture and the legislative branch.

Democratic senators discussed the proposal at lunch and concluded that it did not include strong enough assurances that Trump and the Republican-controlled House would renew enhanced health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that are due to expire in January.

“You got a bunch of keys and you’re trying to find the right key to fit a lock. We just have to have another key,” said a Democratic senator who attended the meeting.

While Democratic senators on Thursday rejected the proposal hashed out by a group of centrists led by Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Angus King (I-Maine), they’re still looking for a way to end the shutdown soon.

But Democrats say that their rocky relationship with Trump is a huge obstacle.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) needs at least eight Democratic votes to reopen the government, which has been shut for 37 days.

Right now, he is five Democratic votes short of what he needs. He has failed to assure nervous Democrats that Trump would embrace a proposal to extend health insurance subsidies beyond December.

Thune has scheduled a vote on Friday on a House-passed government funding measure with the intention of amending it to add the compromise proposal that Republican and Democratic centrists hashed out in recent days. The vote is expected to fail.

Democrats say that Thune can’t promise that Trump will stop........

© The Hill