Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, said Sunday that Senate Democrats should join most Senate Republicans in voting to reopen the government, regardless of whether the two sides reach an agreement to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies.
“The government needs to open, and it needs to open immediately. We need the president to show leadership by bringing people together, trying to get through all the negotiations that have to happen, whether it's before or after,” Spanberger said on CBS's “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
She added that her priority as Virginia's new governor is to “focus on the needs and devastation facing more than 300,000 Virginians.”
Asked whether congressional Democrats should view Democratic victories last week as a sign that voters support their desire to keep the government closed until they reach an agreement on ACA subsidies, Spanberger said, “Absolutely not.”
“Our victory was a victory built on a campaign to address the costs and chaos,” the governor-elect said, later adding: “Virginians need to, and Virginians want, government to reopen, and I expect we will see a Congress, a Senate, and ultimately a President, who will lead us in that direction.”
Virginia is home to hundreds of thousands of federal workers, many of whom are furloughed or working without pay during the shutdown, which enters its 40th day on Monday.
“The shutdown has impacted the entire Virginia economy just as we were impacted by the DOGE attacks, and the government needs to quickly reopen,” added Spanberger, who won her 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 expressed alarm about ACA subsidies set to expire at the end of this year, noting their expiration date. may double or triple insurance premiums for many Americans next year.
But Democrats and Republicans still at a dead end. Republican leaders say they will negotiate ACA subsidies after Democrats vote to reopen 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 the House Democratic Caucus is ready to support the promise, the wing and the prayer of the people who have been destroying 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 it would extend ACA subsidies for one year and form a bipartisan commission to study how to administer the subsidies after that.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Saturday called the plan a “failure.”
On Sunday, Spanberger called on her fellow Senate Democrats to vote with Republicans to reopen the government.
“Eight Democrats can pass,” she said, adding: “We absolutely need everyone to vote to reopen the government, and that doesn’t mean the problems we face in our health care system aren’t urgent and dire as well.”
