The longest government shutdown in U.S. history is itself now history, but don’t count Virginia Rep. Jennifer McClellan among its supporters.
Saying the deal merely “kicks the can down the road” until next year, McClellan was among all but six House Democrats who voted Nov. 12 against a proposal to end the shutdown at 43 days. The final vote was 222-209, with two Republicans jumping ship to side with Democrats.
President Donald Trump signed the bill late Nov. 12, clearing the path for furloughed federal workers to return to their jobs as early as the next day and the government funded through Jan. 30.
In a statement shortly after the vote was taken, McClellan echoed ongoing criticism from Democrats about the proposal — that it did not address Affordable Care Act benefits that are set to expire at the end of the year.
“We could have ended the shutdown by passing 2026 funding bills that meet the needs of the American people and address the health care crisis Republicans created,” she said in the statement. “Instead, the piecemeal package on the floor today kicks the can down the road until January for most federal government agencies and fails to prevent millions of Americans who purchase insurance through the Affordable Care Act from seeing their premiums spike in January.”
McClellan said she was also disappointed that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, would not agree to a future vote on ACA benefits much like Senate Republican leadership accepted in order to get their bill through the Senate.
“Senate Republicans promised their Democratic colleagues a vote on extending the Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits at some undetermined point in the future. Speaker Johnson refuses to commit to a similar vote in the House,” she said. “For these reasons, I voted ‘no.’”
McClellan concluded her statement with language that Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York used in condemning the vote: “This fight is far from over.”
All six of Virginia’s House Democrats voted against the bill, while the five Republicans supported it.
Earlier in the week, the Senate voted 60-40 on the deal. Eight Democrats, including Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, voted for it.
Kaine said he only agreed to the deal after getting a guarantee that there would be no more federal worker layoffs and that employees returning to their jobs would be getting back pay as previously authorized. His Virginia Democratic colleague, Sen. Mark Warner, opposed it.