Shutdown negotiations can't move forward without President Trump getting more involved in them because "Republicans are afraid to do anything unless the president blesses it," says Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia.
The federal government has been shut down since Oct. 1. Congress has been unable to pass either of two dueling measures proposed by both major parties. Republicans want a clean spending resolution to fund the government for seven weeks. Democrats want to fund the government and extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies used by more than 20 million people, undo federal health spending cuts and limit Trump's power to withhold funds appropriated by Congress.
Both sides have blamed each other for the shutdown. House Speaker Mike Johnson warned on Monday that the U.S. is "barreling" toward one of the longest shutdowns in U.S. history, "unless Democrats drop their partisan demands and pass a clean, no-strings-attached budget to reopen the government and pay our federal workers."
In an interview with Morning Edition, Kaine said Democrats' funding plan is not a demand but an alternative to "fix this health care mess" created by Trump and the GOP. The impasse means that, for now, there is no end in sight to the shutdown,
As it stretches on, federal employees in Virginia may soon feel or already feel the pain of going without pay. More than 4% of the state's non-farm workers are employed by the federal government, according to the Labor of Bureau Statistics. The state also has the second largest number of active duty servicemembers, according to the Defense Department.
Kaine said that while Virginians are troubled by the federal shutdown, many have also been troubled by "the layoffs, the clawbacks of federal public health funding, [and] the cancellation of economic development projects" made since Trump returned to the White House.
The administration is following through on a plan by White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought to lay off more federal employees permanently. Last week, the government said in court documents that more than 4,000 workers began receiving reduction in force notices.
"This didn't start when the shutdown started," Kaine said. "It started on Donald Trump's Inauguration Day."
Where Kaine shares common ground with Trump is on ensuring troops are paid during the shutdown. Trump directed the Pentagon to use some $8 billion of unused research and development funding to pay troops on their expected Oct. 15 pay date.
Kaine said "Virginians would generally support the notion" of available Pentagon dollars being spent on troop pay, noting that the executive move would make him nervous if money was being shifted away from other government priorities.
On getting the government to reopen, Kaine said his constituents want him to "get a deal that the White House will honor," and called on Trump and Republicans to be part of productive talks.
"If the president engages, we can solve this in 48 hours," Kaine said.
You can listen to the full interview by clicking play on the button at the top of this article.
The digital version of this interview was edited by Treye Green.
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