House Democrats are warning about the far-reaching consequences of a government shutdown despite recently opposing Republicans’ efforts to fund the government.
Democratic lawmakers returned to Washington on Monday, vowing to keep the government open despite voting against a GOP spending bill currently under consideration in the Senate that would temporarily fund government operations. Many Democrats have expressed fears about the negative consequences their constituents could face during a shutdown, but do not appear to regret their vote against funding government operations.
“Make no mistake: A shutdown would disrupt vital services, halt disaster relief, and put countless federal employees out of work,” Democratic Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar wrote in a lengthy post to the social media platform X on Monday. “At the end of the day, a government shutdown doesn’t impact politicians – it harms everyday Americans.”
Cuellar and 210 of his fellow Democrats voted against a seven-week funding plan — known as a clean continuing resolution (CR) — offered by House Republican leadership on Sept. 19. Maine Rep. Jared Golden was the lone Democratic lawmaker to buck his party and vote to avert a government shutdown.
House Democrats, led by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, demanded that Republicans include roughly $1.5 trillion in additional spending on Obamacare subsidies and federal Medicaid dollars in a temporary spending bill in exchange for their support, which Republicans dismissed as a nonstarter.
Cuellar warned Monday that border patrol agents and veterans will suffer during a government shutdown, but the clean CR he voted against would have provided funding to pay border patrol agents and averted a funding lapse for some veterans’ healthcare services.
He also posted a photo of himself on an airplane while traveling to Washington on Monday, pledging to keep the government open despite voting against funding federal agencies a week prior.
The moderate Texas Democrat previously observed that “the most basic job of Congress is to fund the federal government” during a shutdown fight in 2019.
Cuellar is notably one of the targets of GOP-led mid-decade redistricting in Texas. If the Lone Star State’s new map is upheld in court, the lawmaker will face reelection in a district that voted for President Donald Trump by double digits.
The Biden administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted Cuellar in May 2024 for bribery, unlawful foreign influence and money laundering. The congressman is alleged to have accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from an energy company controlled by the Azerbaijani government and a Mexico-based bank.
The government is slated to shutdown on Wednesday at 12:01 a.m. absent Senate Democrats agreeing to approve the House-passed CR. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has thus far expressed openness to shutting down the government if Republicans do not agree to various policy concessions.
Democratic Virginia Rep. Eugene Vindman joined Cuellar in accusing House Republicans’ of causing a looming government shutdown despite supplying the votes to pass a stopgap funding plan.
“[Mike Johnson] and House Republicans would rather shut down the government than work with Democrats to pass a budget that protects healthcare, funds schools, and lowers costs for working families,” Vindman wrote on X. “Virginians deserve better than their reckless political games.”
Vindman voted against the bipartisan spending bill to extend current funding levels and provide for tens of millions in security funding for lawmakers, arguing the legislation failed in part to “lower costs.”
The freshman lawmaker, who described himself as “the voice for thousands of federal workers” in his northern Virginia district in January, voted against the bipartisan spending bill to fund the government.
A prolonged government shutdown will force thousands of federal employees to work for an indefinite period of time without pay. The Trump administration has also teased mass layoffs of federal workers during the looming shutdown, which could disproportionately impact Vindman’s swing district.
Vindman is the twin brother of Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman, a key figure during Trump’s first impeachment. Rep. Vindman reportedly helped his better-known brother make his case to impeach the president in 2019.
Spokespersons for Cueller and Vindman did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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