Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, said Sunday that Democrats in the Senate should join a majority of Senate Republicans to vote to reopen the government, regardless of whether both sides reach a deal on extending Affordable Care Act subsidies.
“The government needs to open and it needs to open immediately. We need the president to demonstrate leadership, bringing people together, endeavoring to get through whatever negotiations need to get through, whether it’s before or after,” Spanberger told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
She added that her priority as the incoming governor of Virginia is “focusing on the needs and the devastation, frankly, that more than 300,000 Virginians are facing.”
Asked whether congressional Democrats should view Democratic victories last week as a sign that voters support their push to keep the government closed until they reach a deal on ACA subsidies, Spanberger said, “Absolutely not.”
“Our victory was a victory that was based on a campaign that was addressing concerns related to costs and chaos,” the governor-elect said, adding later: “Virginians need to and Virginians want to see the government reopen, and my expectation is that we will see a Congress, a Senate and ultimately a president driving 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 set to enter its 40th day on Monday.
“The entirety of Virginia’s economy is impacted by the shutdown, just as we’ve been impacted by DOGE attacks, and the government needs to reopen quickly,” added Spanberger, who won her state’s gubernatorial election last week.
Any measure to temporarily reopen the government would need to get 60 votes in the Senate. Republicans currently have 53 seats in the chamber.
Congressional Democrats have raised alarms over ACA subsidies that are set to expire at the end of this year, noting their expiration could double or triple insurance premiums for many Americans next year.
But Democrats and Republicans are still at a stalemate. Republican leaders say they will negotiate on the ACA subsidies after Democrats vote to open the 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 that the House Democratic Caucus is prepared to support a promise, a wing and a prayer from folks who have been devastating 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 offered a proposal that would extend ACA subsidies for one year and form a bipartisan commission to study how to handle the subsidies after that.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Saturday called the plan a “nonstarter.”
On Sunday, Spanberger urged her Senate Democratic colleagues to vote alongside Republicans to reopen the government.
“Eight Democrats could cross the aisle,“ she said, adding: “We absolutely need everyone to vote to open the government, and that’s not to say that the challenges we’re facing within our health care system are not also immediate and acute.”
