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The six House Democrats who broke ranks with party leadership by voting in favor of legislation that ended the government shutdown are now opening up about their actions, with one saying, “The last several weeks have been a case study in why most Americans can’t stand Congress.”
Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Jared Golden of Maine, Adam Gray of California, Don Davis of North Carolina, Henry Cuellar of Texas and Tom Suozzi of New York were the six who voted with all but two Republicans to pass the bill by a 222 to 209 margin. President Donald Trump then signed the legislation late Wednesday night, putting an end to the longest shutdown in U.S. history.
“Americans can’t afford for their Representatives to get so caught up in landing a partisan win that they abandon their obligation to come together to solve the urgent problems that our nation faces,” Gluesenkamp Perez wrote on X. “The last several weeks have been a case study in why most Americans can’t stand Congress. None of my friends who rely on SNAP would want to trade their dinner for an ambiguous D.C. beltway ‘messaging victory,’ and I’m glad this ugly scene is in the rearview mirror.”
The bill keeps funding the government at the same levels during fiscal year 2025 through Jan. 30 to provide additional time to hash out a longer appropriations measure for fiscal year 2026. The measure also funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that more than 42 million Americans rely on through September. The program provides non- or low-income individuals or families the ability to purchase groceries on a debit card.
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“I just voted to reopen the government, pay federal workers, and get food assistance and other critical programs up and running again,” Golden said Wednesday.
“Now, with the shutdown ended, Congress should take immediate action to extend expiring Affordable Care Act premium tax credits that keep health insurance plans affordable for millions of Americans. We still have a window to pass bipartisan legislation to extend these credits,” he also said.
Gray said in his own statement that, “No parent should have to choose between feeding their children and keeping the lights on because someone in Washington thinks chaos is a negotiating tactic.”
“That’s why I voted for a bipartisan agreement that takes food assistance off the table for an entire year. So when the next shutdown happens (and in this divided Washington, there is always a next shutdown) the president cannot use hungry kids as bargaining chips again. This agreement also protects veterans, small business owners, and federal workers from being turned into political weapons,” he said.
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Suozzi noted in his statement that the “airport situations are becoming untenable, and government workers have gone without pay for too long.”
“If my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are willing to work together to address this health insurance affordability crisis by extending the premium tax credits, then we will have accomplished something meaningful,” he continued. “If we are not successful, it will deal yet another blow to the already eroding trust in Washington, D.C., and it will be clear who failed to deliver.”
Davis released a statement on X saying in part that he voted to reopen the government “to support my constituents, alleviate the suffering of our families as the holidays approach, and bring vital resources to eastern North Carolina.”
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Cuellar said he voted to reopen the government “so we can get critical programs back on track,” adding, “this stability is especially important for our border communities, where so many families depend on federal agencies to keep trade, travel and public safety moving.”
Fox News Digital’s Diana Stancy and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
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