Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday blamed Democrats for the ongoing government shutdown, saying they triggered the crisis by insisting on taxpayer-funded health care benefits for immigrants in the country illegally.
Appearing on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends,” Vance said federal workers and military families are suffering because Democrats refused to separate health care policy demands from budget negotiations.
“Let’s reopen the government, fix the core issues for our country, and then negotiate,” Vance said, accusing Democrats of “holding the economy hostage.”
Vance said the Biden administration revived programs directing federal funds toward emergency hospital services for immigrants in the country illegally and granted parole status that made millions eligible for taxpayer-funded care. He said Republicans under President Donald Trump had shut down those programs and would not agree to restart them.
The vice president said Trump met at the White House with congressional leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., seeking compromise. Vance said discussions touched on broader health care policy but called Democrats’ tactics unreasonable.
“For decades they said you don’t shut down the government over a policy disagreement. Now that’s exactly what they’ve done,” he said.
“The first proposal Democrats put forward to reopen the government turned those benefits back on,” Vance said. “It’s in the text of the bill. That’s not spin.”
Millions of federal employees and service members are working without pay or have been furloughed. National parks remain closed and local economies face mounting losses. Vance said Republicans are willing to work on lowering health care costs for American citizens but will not “reward” what he called Democrats’ strategy of linking government funding to benefits for immigrants in the country illegally.
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