Maxine Waters Acknowledges Government Shutdown for Healthcare Access

U.S. Representative Maxine Waters recently stated that her party’s actions led to the government shutdown in pursuit of “health care for everybody,” which encompasses illegal immigrants.

During a conversation outside the Capitol on Tuesday, she faced questions regarding Senate Democrats’ dismissal of a temporary funding bill previously approved by the House.

“Do Democrats want to prioritize the healthcare of illegal aliens over a government shutdown?” asked Alison Steinberg from Lidnell TV shortly before the Senate’s initial rejection of the bill.

Waters responded, “Excuse me, stop it right there. We’re not prioritizing — what we want is to keep the government open. We need to work with Republicans for a bipartisan agreement to make that happen, and healthcare is a priority.”

When asked if Democrats were demanding healthcare for illegal immigrants, she asserted, “Democrats are demanding health care for everybody. We want to save lives and ensure that healthcare is available to those who might suffer without it.”

Steinberg followed up, asking, “So, you’re okay with a government shutdown if it means providing healthcare to non-citizens?”

Waters fired back, “That’s what you’re implying. You’re trying to make it sound like we’re prioritizing non-citizens over Americans. Stop it! This is the kind of journalism we don’t need; it’s divisive.”

She concluded with, “We want to save healthcare for all people. Thank you.”

The Republican-controlled House managed to pass the funding bill, which needed support from both sides to gather the 60 votes necessary in the Senate.

Only two Democratic senators, John Fetterman (D-Penn.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), backed the spending bill, along with Independent Senator Angus King (I-Maine). In the House, Representative Jared Golden (D-Maine) also voted in favor.

President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Wednesday to share his views.

“Maxine Waters admitted that she is demanding healthcare for illegal aliens, and it’s going to be first-rate, taking American taxpayers’ healthcare away from them!” he wrote.

Vice President JD Vance echoed similar sentiments during a White House briefing, stating, “The Chuck Schumer, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wing of the Democratic Party shut down the government because they insisted on funding healthcare for illegal aliens.”

On Thursday, Trump made a more emphatic remark, claiming, “THE DEMOCRATS WANT TO GIVE YOUR HEALTHCARE MONEY TO ILLEGAL ALIENS AND OPEN OUR BORDERS TO CRIMINALS; A DEADLY COMBINATION!”

Meanwhile, on Thursday, there was no congressional session due to Yom Kippur, a Jewish holy day. This pushed the vote to Friday, extending the government funding lapse by at least three days.

While Republicans labeled the situation as the “Schumer Shutdown,” Democrats appeared to frame it as the “Trump-Republican Government Shutdown,” as suggested by a statement from Waters’ office.

“Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans have made a reckless decision to shut down the government because they don’t want to protect affordable healthcare for millions of American families,” it stated from the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services.

The statement further criticized Republicans for their past actions during the historically long Trump shutdown in 2018, noting the financial hardships families faced during that time as a potential precursor to current events.

Waters finished the statement by asserting, “Republicans own this shutdown; they control Congress and the presidency, but it’s not too late for them to reverse course and restore healthcare for working families.”