STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Once senators approve the measure in coming days, it goes to the House, which has been out of session for weeks and would have to return to work to vote on it. The members of the House include Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres of New York City, of the Bronx. Congressman, good morning.
RITCHIE TORRES: Good morning.
INSKEEP: Welcome back. You said last night, as I understand it, that you did not even consider this a deal but a, quote, "unconditional surrender." What do you mean?
TORRES: Well, I'm going to vote no because it's not a deal. It's an unconditional surrender that abandons 24 million Americans who are about to see their premiums more than double. My understanding is that we as Democrats were not fighting for a procedural vote. We were fighting for a substantive result, which was the extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits. And the so-called deal does not guarantee that Republicans will vote for the tax credits. Quite the opposite - it guarantees that they will vote against them. So as far as I'm concerned, the promise of a future vote is a concession that concedes nothing.
INSKEEP: And I guess we should be clear, the House is not even committed to holding a vote. But it does strike me, as I look at this, you will at least get senators on the record. Assuming they keep their end of the bargain, there will be a vote. And senators will have to vote against these health care subsidies even as Americans pay higher premiums, which might allow voters later to judge what they think of that.
TORRES: You know, it's worth considering the context. You know, Democrats just had a decisive victory in the 2025 election. Why are we acting as if we'd lost the election? Like, we should be acting with the boldness, with the fighting spirit of a party that just won an election. The outcome of the 2025 election was a referendum on Donald Trump. It was an overwhelming and resounding rejection of Donald Trump.
INSKEEP: Are you appreciative at all of any of the other provisions that Democrats will frame, the Democrats who favored the deal, will frame as wins here? There are three funding measures that are part of this, yearlong funding measures that reverse President Trump's proposed spending cuts. People who are furloughed are once again assured that they will be paid under the law. People who are fired will be unfired. Does any of that console you at all?
TORRES: I feel like it's small in the grand scheme of the government shutdown. And I feel the deal makes us look foolish and feckless. I mean, that's my blunt assessment. It's based on nothing more than an empty promise and a pinky swear.
INSKEEP: Would you have just gone on and on and on with the shutdown if it were up to you?
TORRES: The whole point of the fight was to secure an extension of those tax credits. Like, if those tax credits are allowed to expire, 24 million Americans will see their premiums rise by an average of 114%. A total of 4 million Americans will lose health care. And hospitals everywhere in the United States will lose $30 billion and over 300,000 jobs. This deal fails to prevent our health care system from falling off a cliff.
INSKEEP: Now, elsewhere in the program, Congressman, we're going to hear from Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, who is a Democrat and is voting with the Republicans now to reopen the government. If you had an opportunity to ask her a question, what would you ask?
TORRES: I mean, I would ask why does the deal fail to extend the tax credits for 24 million Americans? I mean, that was the whole objective that Democrats were pursuing, right? By that standard, it's not mission accomplished. It's mission failure.
INSKEEP: In the moment that we have left, I want to ask about something else because this is a matter of big debate in the Democratic Party. Zohran Mamdani, of course, has won the mayoralty in your city. I know this was a very hard call for many Democrats as to whether to support him or not to support him, the various concerns that have been raised. Further concerns have been raised, including by people on this program since, about Mamdani. How should your party and people concerned about some aspect of the mayor-elect approach him now that he's won?
TORRES: We should give Zohran Mamdani a chance to govern. I mean, he's going to be the mayor of the most complicated city on Earth. And we all have a vested interest in his success because we love New York City, we love the United States. So I feel like we should give him the opportunity to succeed and be partners with him.
INSKEEP: The Anti-Defamation League, the head of the Anti-Defamation League was on the program last week. And he talked about setting up what he called a Mamdani monitor and even setting up a tip line to look for instances of antisemitic activity in the city, to try to track them. What do you think of those kinds of responses to Mamdani?
TORRES: Look, I can only tell you my approach. My approach is to give him a chance and then judge him by his actions while governing. I don't feel there should be a presumption of guilt. We should give him a chance and then judge him policy by policy.
INSKEEP: Final thing in about 20 seconds we've got left here. How do you feel about the Democrats' positioning for the 2026 elections?
TORRES: I mean, we're well-positioned because Donald Trump is self-destructing. But if we keep capitulating to Donald Trump, that's not only bad morals, it's bad politics.
INSKEEP: Ritchie Torres is a Democratic member of Congress from New York City. Congressman, it's always a pleasure talking with you. Thanks for joining us again.
TORRES: Absolutely. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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