Oct. 1, 2025 (Portland, Ore.) — The Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) calls on the Trump Administration and Members of Congress to immediately end the reckless government shutdown, stop wasting taxpayer dollars on deploying federal forces in Oregon, and extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits.

Earlier this year, the President, with the support of Oregon Representative Cliff Bentz, signed into law a massive tax giveaway for corporations and the ultra-rich while slashing Medicaid. Now, instead of protecting affordable health care, they are allowing ACA subsidies to expire and shutting down the government—all while spending millions of dollars to unnecessarily deploy federal forces into the streets of Portland. 

Together, these choices threaten to trigger a full-blown healthcare crisis. Families will pay more, hospitals will be forced to cut services or close, and millions will lose their coverage. Rather than fixing the damage, the politicians in DC have chosen to hold the government hostage, refusing to fund essential services and healthcare, unless harmful policies remain in place. Ultimately, working families will suffer the consequences.

“This shutdown isn’t just about political dysfunction—it’s about a deliberate choice to prioritize tax breaks for the wealthy over the health and well-being of working families,” said Tamie Cline, RN and President of the Oregon Nurses Association. “When you won’t invest in helping people afford health care but will waste money deploying federal forces into an American city and shutting down the government, your values are completely backwards. If a frontline healthcare worker was this confused about their priorities, they probably wouldn’t be allowed to keep their job.”

ACA tax credits help millions of Americans — including hundreds of thousands of Oregonians — afford health coverage. If these subsidies are allowed to expire:

“When the federal government shuts down, everyone loses—from families facing higher health costs to frontline health care workers and the federal employees missing paychecks,” Cline added. “It’s time for our leaders to stop playing politics with people’s health and do their jobs.”