Abigail Spanberger says Democrats’ election victories are not a green light to extend the shutdown
Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, said Sunday that Senate Democrats should join the majority of Senate Republicans in voting to reopen the government, whether or not the two sides reach an agreement on expanding Affordable Care Act subsidies.
“The government needs to open up and it needs to open up immediately. We need the president to show leadership, bring people together, work to complete whatever negotiations are necessary, whether it’s before or after,” Spanberger said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
She added that her priority as Virginia’s new governor is to “focus on the needs and the devastation, frankly, that more than 300,000 Virginians are facing.”
Asked whether congressional Democrats should view last week’s Democratic victories as a sign that voters support their push to keep the government closed until they reach an agreement on ACA subsidies, Spanberger said, “Absolutely not.”
“Our victory was a victory based on a campaign that addressed concerns about costs and chaos,” the governor-elect said, later adding, “Virginians need this and want to see government reopen, and I hope we see a Congress, a Senate and ultimately a president lead us in that direction.”
Virginia is home to hundreds of thousands of federal workers, many of whom are furloughed or working without pay for the duration of the shutdown, which is expected to enter its 40th day Monday.
“Virginia’s entire economy is impacted by the shutdown, just as we were impacted by the DOGE attacks, and the government must reopen quickly,” added Spanberger, who won his state’s gubernatorial election last week.
Any measure to temporarily reopen the government would need 60 votes in the Senate. Republicans currently have 53 seats in the House.
Congressional Democrats have sounded the alarm over ACA subsidies set to expire at the end of this year, pointing out that their expiration could double or triple many Americans’ insurance premiums next year.
But Democrats and Republicans are still at an impasse. Republican leaders say they will negotiate ACA subsidies after Democrats vote to open government.
Democrats, like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, say they won’t reopen the government without a concrete plan to extend the subsidies.
“I don’t think the House Democratic Caucus is prepared to support a promise, a wing and a prayer from people who have devastated the health care of the American people for years,” the minority leader said Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
Last week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer proposed a proposal to extend ACA subsidies for another year and form a bipartisan commission to study how to handle the subsidies afterward.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Saturday called the plan a “non-starter.”
On Sunday, Spanberger urged his fellow Senate Democrats to vote with Republicans to reopen the government.
“Eight Democrats could cross the aisle,” she said, adding, “We absolutely need everyone to vote to open government, and that doesn’t mean the challenges we face within our health care system aren’t also immediate and acute.”
