Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday blamed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for the government shutdown, saying Schumer listened to far-left members of the Democratic Party over his fear of a primary challenge from fellow New York lawmaker and progressive ‘Squad’ member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Vance criticized Schumer and congressional Democrats in remarks about the shutdown during a White House press briefing, saying there were ‘a lot of different answers’ about why the Democrats shutdown the government before he laid out the ‘reality.’
‘But the reality here, and let’s be honest about the politics, is that Chuck Schumer is terrified he’s going to get a primary challenge from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,’ Vance said. ‘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.’
Vance further excoriated Schumer, saying if the shutdown persists, the senator’s wing of the Democratic Party is responsible for the fallout.
‘Our troops are not getting paid starting today because of the Chuck Schumer wing of the Democratic Party,’ the vice president said. ‘We have people who require food assistance, low-income Americans who require food assistance, who will not get it unless we reopen the government, thanks to Chuck Schumer and his wing of the Democratic Party.
‘We have flood insurance as we start hurricane season in the southeastern part of our country. That flood insurance is going to disappear because of Chuck Schumer and the far left of the Democratic Party.’
Vance reiterated lawmakers’ need to reopen the government, which entered a partial shutdown Wednesday after the midnight funding deadline passed with Democrats and Republicans failing to agree on a funding bill.
Another reason the Democrats forced a shutdown, according to Vance, was that Democrats want to reinstate Biden-era federal funding for emergency healthcare for illegal immigrants that was ended under the Trump administration.
‘So, I’d invite Chuck Schumer to join the moderate Democrats and 52 Senate Republicans, do the right thing, open up the people’s government and then let’s fix health care policy for the American people,’ Vance said.
The White House responded to a separate question following up on Vance’s remarks about Schumer and Ocasio-Cortez.
‘I think that certainly Sen. Schumer was not expecting three moderates to break with him last night,’ White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. ‘In fact, last night you heard Sen. Schumer say he can’t guarantee that he will be able to hold his caucus together.’
Leavitt said the White House encourages Democrats to have ‘the courage to do the right thing’ and vote on the resolution to keep the government funded.