Talks between Republicans and Democrats broke down in a last-ditch effort on Monday to avoid a government shutdown. Vice President J.D. Vance and House Majority Leader Mike Johnson held a news conference to say that Democrats were being hypocritical by “taking hostages” during the negotiations. At the same time, Democratic leaders kept saying that Republicans would be to blame if the government went dark.
Vance started by saying that a shutdown was coming because of the crazy things that Democrats, who are in the minority, were asking for:
“We don’t always agree…” But you don’t stop the government from working.