As the U.S. government shutdown enters its fourth week, most House members have gone home at Speaker Mike Johnson’s direction. But Rep. Kevin Kiley of California says he is still reporting to his Capitol Hill office daily and urging colleagues to resume work.
Rep. Kevin Kiley, a Republican from California’s 3rd Congressional District, told NPR’s Morning Edition he continues to show up to his Capitol office even as the House remains out of session at Speaker Mike Johnson’s direction. “I’m looking for any and all constructive conversations toward getting us out of this mess,” Kiley said. “The good news is, I’ve had a number of those from folks on both sides of the aisle. The bad news is, the government is still shut down.” (kawc.org)
The current shutdown began on October 1, 2025, after Congress failed to pass new appropriations. A central sticking point has been Democrats’ insistence on extending enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that expire at year’s end, which Republicans have resisted including in a short-term funding bill. (en.wikipedia.org)
Kiley represents a Sierra Nevada-to-Desert district that includes Death Valley National Park and parts of multiple mountain counties. (Yosemite National Park lies outside his district in California’s 5th.) He has criticized the extended recess, saying routine House work has been frozen. “We have 20 committees in the House of Representatives, countless subcommittees that were supposed to be doing things each of the last four weeks,” he said. (en.wikipedia.org)
He also pointed to mounting public impacts. In California, state and county agencies have warned that CalFresh (SNAP) benefits will be delayed in November unless federal funding resumes, and the California Department of Social Services has notified recipients accordingly. Separately, flight delays surged nationwide this week amid air traffic control staffing strains during the shutdown. (cbsnews.com)
Johnson has argued that keeping members home would pressure the Senate to act on the House-passed stopgap funding bill, which extends funding into late November; Kiley disagrees. “Clearly, it’s not working,” he said, adding that lawmakers should seek cross-party common ground. “Sometimes you have to work with people who have a different position in order to find common ground.” (kawc.org)
Kiley said he is open to negotiating on the expiring ACA subsidies, calling for talks now. “There’s enough interest on both sides for a deal,” he told NPR. (kawc.org)
The lawmaker also backed immediate seating of Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, who won a September 23 special election to succeed her late father in Arizona’s 7th District but has not been sworn in while the House remains in recess. “She won her election. I don’t know why this is even an issue,” Kiley said. Speaker Johnson has denied political motives and linked the timing to the shutdown; Arizona’s attorney general has sued to force the swearing-in. (kawc.org)
In California, Kiley has also criticized Gov. Gavin Newsom after the state social services department used official messaging to alert residents that November CalFresh benefits would be delayed, language that attributed the lapse to President Trump and Congress. “It is exactly this kind of excessive partisanship that has caused this shutdown,” Kiley said in a statement to the Daily Wire. The department’s messaging and public warnings were confirmed by state and county notices. (dailywire.com)
For now, Kiley says he will keep reporting to his office to underscore the need for a functioning House. “We should have a functioning House of Representatives,” he said. (kawc.org)