Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said Tuesday that the government shutdown could come to an end with a compromise on repealing the medical device tax.
Durbin, speaking on CNN, said that was perhaps one way by which the shutdown, which began at midnight on Tuesday, could be averted.
“We can work out something, I believe, on the medical device tax,” he said. “That was one of the proposals from the Republicans. As long as we replace the revenue so that we don’t put a hole in our deficit and respond to this in a responsible fashion. That’s one thing the Republicans want to talk about it. Let’s sit down, and put that on the table.”
Republicans attached a repeal of the medical device tax to an earlier version of the funding bill, a version the Senate rejected. The House’s bill also included a one-year delay of Obamacare.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has previously said he will not accept a repeal of the medical device tax attached to the government funding bill.