Vice President Vance on Wednesday argued Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) actions around a government shutdown were influenced by concern that he could face a primary challenge from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y).

Vance addressed reporters from the White House briefing room on the first day of a government shutdown spurred by a clash between Senate Democrats and their Republican counterparts over demands on health care funding.

“The reason why the American people’s government is shut down is because Chuck Schumer is listening to the far-left radicals in his party, because he’s terrified of a primary challenge,” Vance said.

Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive darling with a large national following, was asked Tuesday night on MSNBC whether she was planning to primary Schumer in 2028 and whether that might be driving his decisionmaking. She did not directly answer about a primary but stressed the need for Democrats to stand up to protect health care.

“They want us to blink first, and we have too much to save,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

The federal government officially entered a shutdown at midnight Wednesday morning after congressional leaders were unable to reach a deal on a stopgap spending bill.

At the heart of the shutdown is an insistence by Democrats that the stopgap bill must include a provision to extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, and a refusal by Republicans to include the credits in government funding negotiations.

The tax credits are set to expire at the end of the year and are expected to cause an increase in health insurance premiums. 

The White House has alleged Democrats are aiming to provide health care for immigrants in the country illegally, even though those people are not eligible for federal health care benefits.

“We think we can open the government, then have the conversation about health care policy to best fit the needs of the American people,” Vance said Wednesday.