Transcript: Vice President JD Vance Q&A With Reporters About Government Shutdown

It’s another thing to say that we’re going to shut down the government unless we give the Democrats every single thing that they want, which, as Karoline says, includes giving billions of dollars of taxpayer funding for healthcare for illegal migrants. That’s ridiculous. You don’t have policy disagreements that serve as the basis for a government shutdown.

Let’s have the conversation about how to fix American healthcare, about how to make healthcare more accessible. As the President showed, he’s more than willing to act on behalf of the American people for this very reason. What you don’t do is say, “Unless you do exactly what we want to do as congressional Democrats, we’re taking a hostage.” And the hostage, it turns out, is critical, essential services that the American people need.

Impact on American People

Karoline talked about some of it. Let me talk about some more. Our troops are not getting paid, starting today, because of the Chuck Schumer wing of the Democratic Party. We have people who require food assistance, low-income Americans who require food assistance, who will not get it unless we reopen the government, thanks to Chuck Schumer and his wing of the Democratic Party. We have flood insurance as we start hurricane season in the southeastern part of our country. That flood insurance is going to disappear because of Chuck Schumer and the far left of the Democratic Party.

We need to reopen the government. Let’s fix America’s problems. Let’s work together to solve them. But let’s reopen the government before we have our negotiation about healthcare policy. That’s what the American people demand, and that’s certainly what the President of the United States wants.

Why Democrats Shut Down the Government

Let me make one final point. I think a lot of Americans are asking themselves, why did this happen? Why did the Democrats shut down the government despite, as Karoline said, voting on the exact same piece of legislation six months ago? And there are a lot of different spins that we can put on it, a lot of different answers that we can give, all of them true.

One answer I already gave is that they want to give healthcare benefits to illegal aliens. That is true. They gave us legislative text that would have undone us cutting off healthcare benefits for illegal aliens. That’s one of the things that they asked for.

But the reality here, and let’s be honest about the politics, is that Chuck Schumer is terrified he’s going to get a primary challenge from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. And the reason why the American people’s government is shut down is because Chuck Schumer is listening to the far-left radicals in his own party because he’s terrified of a primary challenge.

So I’d invite Chuck Schumer to join the moderate Democrats and 52 Senate Republicans, do the right thing, open up the people’s government, and then let’s fix healthcare policy for the American people.

Questions?

REPORTER: Mr. Vice President.

That’s a lot. Matt Boyle.

REPORTER: Mr. Vice President, there’s two key Democrat lies I would like to get you to take on and see if you can address. The first is that you’re seeing a number of top Democrat leaders, from Kamala Harris to Chuck Schumer to Kim Jeffries, claiming that it is a Republican shutdown caused by Trump. The second is that they’re out there now claiming that they don’t want to give healthcare to illegal aliens. Can you address both of those lies from the Democrat party?

JD VANCE: Yes. So on the point that it’s a Republican shutdown, look, it’s obviously a Democratic shutdown. Just look at the vote totals in the House, look at the vote totals in the Senate, and look at the President of the United States’ own action and conduct throughout this crisis. Nearly every single House Republican voted to open the government, Matt. Nearly every single Senate Republican voted to open the government last night, and even, to their credit, a few moderate Democrats voted to open the government. That’s not a Republican shutdown when nearly every single Senate Democrat votes to shut it down and every Republican voted to open it up. It’s just obviously not true.

Now, you can disagree about a number of things, but you can’t disagree about the obvious fact that Republicans voted to open the government. The President stands ready to sign that opening of the government. We just need a few more Democrats to join us in that effort to open the government.

Illegal Alien Healthcare Benefits

Your final question, about illegal alien benefits. Look, the text is very clear, and I even saw, I think it was George Stephanopoulos, in an interview with Mike Johnson, did a fact check that was totally rooted in baseless claims. It was basically Democrat propaganda. If you look at the legislative text that they gave us, they tried to turn on two separate provisions that would give healthcare benefits to illegal aliens.

Number one, if you’re an American citizen, you’ve been to a hospital in the last few years, you probably noticed that wait times are especially large, and very often somebody who’s there in the emergency room waiting is an illegal alien, very often a person who can’t even speak English. Why do those people get healthcare benefits at hospitals paid for by American citizens? The answer is a decision made by the Biden administration that the Trump administration working with congressional Republicans undid. We turned off that money spigot to healthcare funding for illegal aliens. The Democrats in their legislative text want to turn it back on. That’s one thing.

The second thing, Matt, is we all know that there are various ways in which the Biden administration waved away illegal immigration status. They gave parolees, they gave asylum claims to people who weren’t really claiming asylum. And when they waved the magic wand of amnesty, giving millions of people legal status, even though they were in the country illegally, they also gave those people access to healthcare benefits. So what the Democrats are engaging in is a sleight of hand, they’re saying, no, no, no, those weren’t illegal aliens who were getting healthcare benefits, even though everybody knows they were in the country illegally.

It’s a lie told by the Democrats that they’re not trying to give healthcare benefits to illegal aliens. It’s a lie that is obviously untrue if you just look at the text that they gave us. And all you have to do is understand that this is about who benefits. We think the American people’s government ought to benefit American citizens. The Democrats are willing to shut it down to benefit illegal aliens. The contrast couldn’t be more clear.

Peter.

Length of the Shutdown

REPORTER: Hi, you guys. President Vance. The big holdup is, of course, that you guys say illegal immigrants are getting taxpayer funded healthcare. The Democrats say you’re lying. That makes it feel like it could be a really long shutdown. Is this going to be a long shutdown?

JD VANCE: I don’t know. I can’t predict what congressional Democrats are going to do, Peter, but I actually don’t think it’s going to be that long of a shutdown. This is a pure guess from the vice president of the United States, because I think you already saw some evidence that moderate Democrats are cracking a little bit. They understand the fundamental illogic of this.

Look, for years, every single one of us, we can remember Barack Obama on the White House lawn. We can remember Chuck Schumer. We can remember Nancy Pelosi for years. In Chuck Schumer’s case, for literally decades, we’ve heard them say, you don’t shut the government down over policy disagreement.

OK, Republicans think this thing about health care, that thing about health care. Democrats think this thing about immigration, Republicans disagree. Whatever those disagreements are, you don’t shut down the government over it. For the first time since the Democrats have been in politics, they’re now saying that unless we get every policy item that we demand, we’re going to shut down the people’s government. They’re trying to take a hostage, and we’re not going to let them.

New York Transportation Funding Freeze

REPORTER: And the administration announced today that $18 billion found for New York transportation projects is going to be frozen, so it can’t go to DEI programs there. But the timing of this, does announcing that today mean that you guys are going to squeeze Chuck Schumer’s home state until he wins?

JD VANCE: Look, I haven’t talked to Russ about this this morning, but look, I’m sure that Russ is heartbroken about the fact that he’s unable to give certain things to certain constituencies. We want to do everything that we can to help the American people, but when the Democrats shut down the government, we have to actually do a little triage to make sure the most critical and most essential services are provided.

Essential Services During Shutdown

The government does a lot of things. Of course, Republicans think that the federal government probably does too much, but there are a lot of critical things the federal government does that absolutely all of us would agree need to do. Our troops need to get paid. Our air traffic controllers need to make sure that people are flying safely and on time. We need low-income people to be able to access the food services that are provided by the federal government. There are critical things that need to be saved.

We’re going to do everything that we can over the coming weeks if the shutdown lasts that long to ensure that people get the essential services that they need despite the fact that Chuck Schumer has shut down the federal government. It’s not going to be perfect because we are in a government shutdown. We are going to have to lay some people off if the shutdown continues. We don’t like that. We don’t necessarily want to do it, but we’re going to do what we have to to keep the American people’s essential services continuing to run.

Thank you.

REPORTER: Thank you, Mr. Vice President. Thank you for being here.

Targeting Federal Workers Based on Politics

REPORTER: Yesterday, President Trump said, as a result of the shutdown, he’ll be laying off a lot of people that are going to be very affected, and the Democrats, “they are going to be Democrats.” Has the administration asked agencies to target federal workers who they believe to be Democrats in these reductions of forces?

JD VANCE: We’re not targeting federal agencies based on politics. We’re targeting the people’s government so that as much as possible of the essential services can continue to function. That is the question the President has asked the entire government, is fundamentally, okay, we’re in a shutdown. That causes some problems. The troops aren’t getting paid. There’s nothing that we can do about that while the government is shut down. But there are essential services that we want to make sure, as much as possible, they still continue to function.

That is the principle that’s driving us forward during this shutdown. It’s going to continue to be the principle that drives us forward, but let’s be honest. If this thing drags on for another few days or, God forbid, another few weeks, we are going to have to lay people off. We’re going to have to save money in some places so the essential services don’t get turned off in other places. That is the reality of the government shutdown that Chuck Schumer and Democrats have foisted upon the administration.

Crisis or Opportunity for Reform

REPORTER: Phil. “They’re going to be Democrats.” He said “they’re going to be Democrats.” You’ve laid out a lot of the pain and problems that would come with a Democratic shutdown. And yet, in the Oval Office yesterday, the President said that a lot of food could come from a shutdown. So, square that circle. Which is it? A Democratic-caused crisis or a Republican opportunity for reform?

JD VANCE: I think all the President is saying, Phil, is that he wants to make sure the American people’s government functions as well as it can, despite the fact that we’re in a shutdown. We’re going to have to make things work. And that means that we’re going to have to triage for certain things. That means certain people are going to have to get laid off. And we’re going to try to make sure that the American people suffer as little as possible from this shutdown. That’s what the President is saying, is that, yes, this is a bad thing.

Obviously, the President is trying to reopen the government. But we’re going to make things work as well as we possibly can, given the constraints that we have.

And then on those policy differences for the discussion and the negotiations to come later, During the Biden administration, Democrats twice voted to expand these Affordable Care Act tax credits. But those were supposed to be temporary, and they were slated to expire at the end of the year. As you sort of crack the door open to negotiation at a later date, would the party that ran on defunding Obamacare really negotiate about potentially expanding Obamacare?

Addressing Healthcare Policy and Government Shutdown

JD VANCE: Well, Phil, what we’ve said to the Democrats is that we’re willing to have a conversation about how to ensure that Americans continue to have access to health care. And, frankly, they should have access to better health care at a lower cost. We inherited a mess of a health care system from the Biden administration. It’s why the President has worked so hard on the most favored nation status for prescription drugs. It’s why we care so much about lowering the cost of prescriptions and why we’re doing everything else.

We’re willing to have that conversation. But I think it’s important to bracket the health care policy conversation because it’s separate from the government shutdown. We think that we can open the government and then have the conversation about what best health care policy to fit the needs of the American people. That’s all we’re trying to do. That’s all we’re trying to accomplish. We’ve got to reopen the government first.

Now, Caroline, I don’t know how you do this, how you actually choose people, because I don’t know 90 percent of the names in here. Is it just who’s the best dressed? OK. I really like your shirt. Go ahead.

REPORTER: Thank you, Mr. Vice President. You are president of the Senate. Can you talk about what you’re doing, what the administration is doing to try to get other Senate Democrats to vote to open the government?

Working With Senate Democrats

JD VANCE: Yeah, we’re talking to a number of our colleagues, Democratic and Republican, in the Senate. I talked to a number of them last night. The president, of course, is talking to them as well. I think there really are two categories of demands that I’ve seen privately from congressional Democrats.

I think on the one hand, those who are negotiating in good faith are saying, look, we just want to make sure that we’re able to have a conversation with the administration about some of the critical needs that we see that need to get fixed over the next few months. We recognize it’s kind of absurd, and a lot of them will admit in private that it’s kind of absurd to shut down the people’s government over these disagreements, but just agree to negotiate with us in good faith on these issues. And of course, we’re having that conversation with them.

Then there’s another category, people who say, give us everything we want or we’re going to keep the government shut down. We just write those people off because they’re not negotiating in good faith. And frankly, we don’t need them. We’ve already got three more Democrats last night than I thought we would get. And I think it’s because they recognize the illogic of the position of taking the entire American economy hostage because they don’t get their policy priorities.

So three moderate Democrats joined 52 Republicans last night. We need five more in order to reopen the government. And that’s really where we’re going to focus, is how to get those five additional Democrats.

REPORTER: Thanks, Mr. Vice President. First, two questions. Are there plans to meet Democratic leaders again in the coming days, or are you planning on plucking off Senators one by one?

JD VANCE: So that’s the whole question?

REPORTER: No, I got a second part.

JD VANCE: Okay, go ahead.

On Presidential Social Media Posts

REPORTER: Second question. So the president’s been posting some images of Leader Jeffries and Senator Schumer. You’ve said that you’re interested in good faith negotiations with these leaders, but what message does that send? Is it helpful to post pictures of Leader Jeffries and Mr. Romero if you’re trying to have good faith talks with him?

JD VANCE: Oh, I think it’s funny. The president’s joking, and we’re having a good time. You can negotiate in good faith while also poking a little bit of fun at some of the absurdities of the Democrats’ positions, and even, you know, poking some fun at the absurdity of the Democrats themselves.

And I’ll tell Hakeem Jeffries right now, I make the solemn promise to you that if you help us reopen the government, the Sombrero memes will stop. And I talked to the president of the United States about that.

Now, to your first question, are we negotiating one-on-one? Are we negotiating in groups? Look, I will go to the U.S. Capitol right now and meet with Chuck Schumer or any Senate Democrat if it helps us reopen the government. Most of the conversations, in my experience at least, have been one-off. We’re also, of course, relying on some of our Senate Republican colleagues who have good relationships across the aisle. We’re going to do whatever we have to do is the answer, and I think it’s tough to predict what shape this negotiation is going to take over the next few months. But I feel good about the fact that Democrats already realize privately the fundamental irrationality of their position. I hope that they’re going to publicly acknowledge it and reopen the government.

Chuck Schumer’s Changed Stance on Illegal Immigration

REPORTER: Thank you, Mr. Vice President. You responded to a post on X of Chuck Schumer on the House floor back in 1996, railing against illegal immigrants receiving taxpayer-funded benefits. You said Chuck Schumer once recognized that it was disastrous to give illegal aliens rewards for breaking the law. Now he wants to shut down the government unless we reward illegal aliens for breaking the law. Why has Chuck Schumer changed his stance?

JD VANCE: You know, that’s a good question. Actually, it’s a very tough question. Asking me to give him the head of Chuck Schumer is not a place I particularly want to be, but my basic read on it is that the entire Democratic Party, the political leadership, not every Democrat nationwide, but the political leadership of their party has got it into their heads that the only way to be compassionate is to be compassionate to illegal aliens rather than American citizens.

If you go back to what Bill Clinton was saying, even Barack Obama in some cases, what he was saying about illegal immigration 10, 15, 20 years ago, you would put them on the MAGA right based purely on the rhetoric around illegal immigration. So I don’t know why they’ve gone so far to the left. I think it’s bad for the country. I think it’s bad for them politically.

But our principle, all I can do is speak for the president that I serve and the country, the administration that I serve right now. We believe that the American people’s government exists for the American people. That means the people who have the legal right to be here, and that’s why we’re fighting to reopen the government. And unfortunately, the Democrats are fighting to shut it down for the benefit of illegal aliens.

And I’ll take a couple more and then I’ll let Karoline, I’ll go back to my day job. So Karoline, go back to hers. All right.

Response to Hakeem Jeffries’ Criticism

REPORTER: Yes. Mr. Vice President, I’m just going back to the Mr. Brower. You said that the president’s joking, but Hakeem Jeffries says that these, you know, these memes were racist. What’s your response to that? And just if I may briefly go off topic, Secretary Hegseth said yesterday made an edict about no more beards in the military. Sorry.

JD VANCE: What did he say?

REPORTER: Beards.

JD VANCE: I didn’t see that particular comment. I thought Pete gave a hell of a speech and a speech that really is oriented around returning the American military to the very high standards that it has had for virtually its entire history until Joe Biden came along and decided to lower standards. I think it was bad for our military and it was bad for our troops.

When I was a young United States Marine, I did not have a beard. I am now the vice president, so I get to do what I want to do. But I think Pete’s trying to re-implement high standards. And that’s a very good thing on this, the meme thing.

I mean, Hakeem Jeffries said it was racist. And I know that he said that. And I honestly don’t even know what that means. Like, is he a Mexican-American that is offended by having a sombrero meme? I mean, I saw one of the major TV stations put the meme up and then say, this is AI generated. And he had like the curly animated mustache, too.

It’s like, do the American people, do you really not realize the American people recognize that he did not actually come to the White House wearing a sombrero and a black curly animation mustache? Like, give the country a little bit of credit. We’re all trying to do a very important job for the American people. The president of the United States likes to have a little bit of fun when he’s doing it. And I think that’s okay.

I’ll take one more question.

Why Fire Workers Instead of Furloughing Them?

REPORTER: Vice President, in every previous shutdown, workers have been furloughed, not laid off. So why does the president want to fire some workers and not just furlough them? Why is this shutdown any different?

JD VANCE: Well, first of all, we haven’t made any final decisions about what we’re going to do with certain workers. What we’re saying is that we might have to take extraordinary steps, especially the longer this goes on. We’re going to have to take extraordinary measures to ensure that people’s government operates, again, not perfectly because it’s not going to operate perfectly in the midst of a shutdown, but operate as well as it possibly can.

And I think that the Democrats, if they’re so worried about the effect this is having on the American people, and they should be, what they should do is reopen the government, not complain about how we respond to the fact that Chuck Schumer and the Democrats have shut down the government in the first place. Thank you.

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