When the government ground to a halt two weeks ago, we felt it immediately in Virginia. But it did not happen because House Republicans failed to act — we did our job and passed a bill to fund the government.
Every single Republican member of Virginia’s House delegation voted to fund the government, keep it open, and ensure that essential services for our constituents continued without interruption. We passed a clean, short-term continuing resolution — the same kind of measure that has been used routinely with bipartisan support for years.
What we voted for wasn’t a partisan stunt or a political messaging bill. It contained no poison pills. It was a responsible effort to keep the government running while negotiations on full-year funding bills continued. And it came without the usual side-deals, without policy riders, and without the kind of ideological wish lists that often bog down the process.
Our goal was simple: protect paychecks, services, and stability for the American people, especially here in Virginia, where the consequences of inaction are felt first and hardest.
But Senate Democrats had a different plan. They rejected the clean continuing resolution and demanded more than $1.5 trillion in unrelated spending, tied to partisan priorities such as taxpayer-funded health care for illegal immigrants and funding for liberal media outlets. In doing so, they chose political leverage over basic governance.
In the past, Senate Democrats have loudly decried the very outcome they just helped bring about.
Just as recently as March 2025, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said: “I have said many times, there are no winners in a government shutdown. But there are certainly victims: the most vulnerable Americans, who rely on federal programs to feed their families, to access medical care, and stay financially afloat. Communities that depend on government services to function will suffer, and suffer greatly.”
So what changed? Why did they now vote to shut down the government?
When the government shuts down, Virginia doesn’t just read about it — we live it. Nearly 150,000 federal employees call Virginia home. We host the Pentagon, Langley Air Force Base, the Navy’s Atlantic fleet, and a dense network of defense contractors and federal agencies.
A shutdown means that our active-duty servicemembers are forced to work without pay. It delays veterans’ benefits. It stalls small business loans. It suspends WIC benefits for mothers and children, 127,000 of whom rely on that support here in Virginia. It even halts FEMA’s ability to issue flood insurance policies — an especially dangerous failure during hurricane season.
These are not abstract policy concerns. They are real-life consequences for real people whom our entire delegation, Democrat and Republican, was elected to represent.
Unfortunately, Virginians are now paying the price for political games.
We have heard for years that shutdowns are dangerous, disruptive, and damaging to the economy, particularly here in the Commonwealth. But when the opportunity came to prevent one, Senate Democrats chose to manufacture a crisis instead, hoping they could use it as a tool to advance a political agenda.
That’s not leadership. That’s political theater at Virginians’ expense.
This shutdown did not have to happen. The House did its part. We voted to fund the government and avoid unnecessary pain. It is time for Senate Democrats to do the same.
The games must stop. The government must reopen. And the people we serve — our servicemembers, veterans, working families, and small businesses — must come first.
Reps. Ben Cline, Morgan Griffith, John McGuire, Jen Kiggans, and Rob Wittman, all Republicans, Represent Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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