{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/king-shares-updated-thoughts-on-the-ongoing-federal-government-shutdown", "King Shares Updated Thoughts on the Ongoing Federal Government Shutdown", "2025-10-08", "2025", "2025-10", "Independent", "Senate", "ME", "Angus S. King, Jr.", "K000383", "www.king.senate.gov", "angusking", "https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/table", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) released the following statement providing an update to the ongoing federal government shutdown:\n\n\u201cThe imminent expiration of the tax credits which make health insurance affordable for millions (including tens of thousands in Maine) is a totally avoidable crisis. They could and should have been extended earlier this year when the Republican-only tax bill was passed\u2014which extended (and made permanent) tax breaks for billionaires.\n\n\u201cBut it didn\u2019t happen and the dramatic increase in health insurance premiums will hit in the next several weeks.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s why I have been working intensely with Senators on both sides of the aisle to find a solution to this problem while at the same time trying get us out of the current increasingly dangerous government shutdown, so far without success.\n\n\u201cI intend to continue that work and as long as there are Republican Senators willing to talk, I\u2019ll be at the table\n\n\u201cBut as serious as the health insurance crisis is, I believe the shutdown itself and the additional powers it conveys to Donald Trump and his henchmen, is the greater risk. The greatest challenge our country faces right now is the accelerating slide toward authoritarianism. Troops in our cities, ignoring the law, defying the courts, trampling on the free press, weaponizing the legal system, and more examples everyday, have brought our country to the most dangerous moment in my lifetime.\n\n\u201cAnd this shutdown has the potential to make all this worse by further empowering Donald Trump, Steven Miller, and Russell Vought.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s why I have decided to stick with my vote to reopen the government rather than continue the shutdown in the hopes of coming to a resolution on health insurance. This is not an easy decision\u2014made more so by the Republicans\u2019 refusal to even discuss the health insurance issue\u2014but in the end, I have determined that preserving our democracy has to be the highest priority.\n\n\u201cI hope I\u2019m wrong about this risk, but the stakes are too high to take that chance.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/king-shares-updated-thoughts-on-the-ongoing-federal-government-shutdown"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.220497000962496, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}