Vice President JD Vance says Senate Democrats are holding the government “hostage” by using the shutdown as leverage.
“We want to fix this issue for the American people, but we’re not [going to] be taken hostage. We’re not going to shut down the government and then give you everything that you want.”
“Let’s negotiate, but we’re not [going to] reward this behavior,” Vance said Wednesday during an appearance on Fox News while describing a meeting between President Donald Trump, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
“It was the four of them, plus me and the president, and we were having a very good conversation about healthcare policy. But the president finally sort of threw up his hands and said, ‘Guys, let’s absolutely work on this healthcare policy disagreement,'” he said.
The U.S. entered its first day of a government shutdown Wednesday, as a vote to extend funding past a midnight deadline failed in the Senate, and Trump threatened to extend his purge of the federal workforce.
With no sign of compromise on Capitol Hill, it was unclear how long a shutdown would play out. Congress has shut down the government 15 times since 1981, with most lasting a day or two. The most recent, during Trump’s first term, was also the longest.
This time, healthcare is the sticking point. Democrats say any spending bill must also make permanent Affordable Care Act subsidies that are due to expire at the end of the year. Without a fix, healthcare costs for 24 million Americans will rise sharply, with a disproportionate impact in Republican-controlled states like Florida and Texas that have refused to enact other aspects of the law that provide coverage to low-income people.
Democrats have also sought to ensure that Trump will not be able to undo those changes if they are signed into law.
Vance told Fox that Democrats are to blame for the shutdown.
“I have seen Democrats stand before the American people and say, ‘You don’t shut down the government because you’re not getting what you want.’
“And here they are last night, the far-left faction of Senate Democrats. They shut down the government. Why? Because they’re not getting what they want,” he said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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