Virginia Senator Tim Kaine comments on government shutdown

Until a deal is reached, hundreds of thousands of federal employees and their families remain in limbo, wondering how this will affect their livelihoods. 

Though government shutdowns are not unusual, they can still be very impactful on people’s lives.

Some federal employees will be without pay. 

Government run amenities like the National Parks and some museums will be closed, and certain government aid programs will freeze as well.

U.S. Senator Tim Kaine said although there were some good discussions on the floor, a deal could be challenging to reach.

“President Trump asked the House Republicans to put forward a short-term deal and quote, not deal with Democrats, and they did. They put together a deal where they did not deal with Democrats. Recognizing that, the Senate Democrats were like, ‘Well, we’re part of this too.’ So, we put an alternate on the table, and the alternate was put on the table on the 18th of September. Well in advance of September 30,” said Senator Kaine.

Senator Kaine said President Trump canceled the first meeting the Democratic Senators set up with him and did not meet with them until September 30th.

He said there are two key differences in the deal that the Democrats have put forward.

“Number one, we put provisions in our bill that a deal is a deal. If we’re going to make a deal, even for 45 days, the President should not be able to tear it up once the ink is dry. To enter into a deal and then start to withhold money from Virginia Economic Development projects like the Fair Ones project in Norfolk, he pulled money back from that.” said Senator Kaine.

Senator Kaine said the other difference is fixing the damage done to healthcare by the Reconciliation Bill passed by Republicans earlier in the summer.

He said hundreds of thousands of Virginians will lose health insurance and many more will see premiums spike.

Senator Kaine said facilities in the state will also begin to close which causes job loss and economic damage to the state.

He said Democrats are asking for a commitment to fix this issue in their alternative deal.