Vice President J.D. Vance made an appearance in the White House press room on Wednesday to blame Democrats’ far-left wing for the government shutdown that began overnight.
“The reason your government is shut down at this very minute is because, despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of congressional Republicans and even a few moderate Democrats supported opening the government, the Chuck Schumer/AOC wing of the Democratic Party shut down the government,” Mr. Vance told reporters. “They said to us, ’We will open the government, but only if you give billions of dollars of funding for health care for illegal aliens. That’s a ridiculous proposition.”
Mr. Vance said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer is nervous about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat and member of the far-Left squad, running against him for his Senate seat in 2028.
“The reason why the American people’s government is shut down is because Chuck Schumer is listening to the far-left radicals in his own party because he’s terrified of a primary challenge,” he said.
The Trump administration and Republicans blame the top congressional Democrats, Mr. Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York, over their insistence on adding health care provisions to the spending bill. Democrats have demanded a continuation of Obamacare subsidies that were expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic and are set to expire at the end of this year.
The Trump administration and other GOP leaders say the Democrats also demand free health care for migrants.
Mr. Vance said Democrats are holding essential federal government services “hostage” because some services have paused and some employees have been furloughed, without funding.
He said he couldn’t predict how long the shutdown would last.
“But I don’t think it’s going to be that long a shutdown,” the vice president said, adding that he thinks some Democrats are already “cracking a little bit.” Three Senate Democrats have voted with Republicans to keep the government open.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.