Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is caving to the radical wing of the Democratic Party by forcing the latest government shutdown because he fears a primary challenge from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., according to Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday.
“Let’s be honest about the politics: Chuck Schumer is terrified of the primary challenge from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,” Vance said in a rare stand-in at the daily White House press briefing Wednesday.
“The reason why the government is shut down is because Chuck Schumer is fighting against the radicals of his party because he is terrified of a midterm.”
Vance said Democrats have conditioned reopening the government on taxpayer-funded healthcare for undocumented immigrants, which he called “a ridiculous proposition.” He added that the shutdown was preventing military pay, food aid for low-income families, and flood insurance from reaching Americans.
Vance urged Democrats to join Republicans in reopening the government prior to negotiating healthcare policy.
“We need to reopen the government,” Vance said. “Let’s fix America’s problems.”
“But let’s reopen the government before we have our negotiation about healthcare policy.”
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