Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia sharply criticized House Democrats for attacking Senate Democrats' decision to end the longest government shutdown in history. Appearing on NBC's 'Meet the Press,' Kaine defended the vote as essential to avoid further harm to federal workers and the public. He urged House members to focus on their own leadership rather than interfering in Senate matters.
Last week, Senate Democrats voted to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, a move that drew criticism from some House Democrats. On Sunday, Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) addressed these rebukes during an interview on NBC's 'Meet the Press' with anchor Kristen Welker.
Welker played a clip of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who described the Senate Democrats' action as making the party appear 'weak' and claimed Republicans could force concessions by 'hurt[ing] working people.' Kaine pushed back, highlighting the impact in his state. 'I have 320,000 federal employees in Virginia, and together with their families that’s probably 700,000 dependents,' he said. 'Getting them all back to work with two paychecks that they’ve missed restored, with protections against future firings, you know, some folks like AOC may think that’s nothing. Virginians think that’s an awful lot.'
Kaine questioned the alternative, asking: 'Would it have been another week of SNAP recipients losing their benefits? Another month of air travelers enduring chaos and even danger?' He emphasized that the decision prioritized restoring pay and stability for affected Americans.
Other House Democrats, including Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA), went further by calling for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to step down. Khanna suggested Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) as 'dynamic' potential leaders.
Kaine dismissed such interventions, stating: 'I don’t tell Ro Khanna or AOC or anybody else who you should pick as your House leader, because I got a full time job being a senator. I don’t need to freelance opinions about House leadership. They should focus on their own leadership and let senators do what we need to do to keep this country moving forward.'
The exchange underscores internal Democratic tensions following the shutdown's resolution, with Kaine arguing that prolonging the impasse would have caused unnecessary suffering.