Georgia Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock says the federal government shutdown is not about whether Republicans or Democrats “win or lose.”
Leaders of both parties remained steadfast in their positions after the shutdown began Wednesday: Democrats want to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies that millions rely on and undo health spending cuts from President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Republicans say they want to negotiate the subsidies after reaching an agreement to fund the government.
Warnock told Morning Edition that Georgians in rural areas have expressed concerns about losing access to health care. He said a small business owner told him she decided to close her business because paying for health insurance would be too expensive without ACA subsidies.
The senator told NPR’s Leila Fadel that the White House should “stop acting like these are pieces on a chessboard. These are people’s lives.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt blamed Democrats for the shutdown during an interview with Morning Edition, saying they picked a “partisan fight” over healthcare spending at the “ninth hour.”
Leavitt also defended the Trump administration’s plans for permanent layoffs during the shutdown. She said President Trump planned to meet with the Office of Management and Budget to decide what agencies are essential and which ones “do not align with the administration’s ‘priorities and values.'”
The White House singled out Warnock and fellow Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in a post on X, saying their votes in the Senate left military service members without pay at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia and hurt businesses around it. The federal government employs more than 100,000 people in Georgia, according to the state’s Department of Labor.
Warnock defended his recent votes, saying he “voted to keep the government open a few times this week,” referring to a Democrat-backed plan that would have funded the government, extended ACA subsidies and repealed cuts to health care programs. “Why don’t they come down to Georgia and look into the faces of the people that I’m seeing?”
As a pastor, Warnock said he’s “hoping against hope” that GOP members will come to negotiate and realize that federal cuts to health care spending will hurt their own constituents.
“They’re betting that I care more about these people in Georgia who are losing their jobs and who are struggling with health care than they do. And sadly, that appears to be the case,” Warnock said. “I hope they’ll center the people and then we have a chance at getting the public policy right.”
Ally Schweitzer edited the digital and radio versions of this story. Nia Dumas produced the radio version.
Transcript:
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
It’s Day 3 of the government shutdown. Democrats and Republicans are still dug in on their positions. The Trump administration’s threat of firing federal workers could further add to the pain already felt by thousands of federal workers across the country. A state that’s home to several federal agencies is Georgia. And to tell us more about how all of this is affecting the state and what’s happening on Capitol Hill, we’re joined by Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock. Good morning, Senator.
RAPHAEL WARNOCK: Good morning. Great to be here with you.
FADEL: Thank you for being here. I think I want to start with what’s happening here in D.C. before we get to your state. We heard from Republican Senator John Thune that he’s seeing cracks in the Democrats and is confident he’ll be able to peel off the five senators he needs to pass the Republican spending bill and get the government open soon. Is he right? Does he have some of your colleagues defecting?
WARNOCK: Well, this is part of the problem. I mean, this is really the heart of the problem. The politicians, as so often is the case, are focused on themselves. This is not about the Democrats. This is not about the Republicans. This is not about whether we are going to win or lose. I come from a state where Republicans have already raised the health care premiums on some 1.2 million Georgians, 22 million Americans. Folks are opening up their portals, and they’re finding out right now in real time that their health care premiums have gone way up as a result of the one big ugly bill. And millions of Americans are literally going to be cut off of their health care. I wish Senator Thune would focus on them.
FADEL: Let me ask the other side of that question. There will be a vote today on the competing bills from your party and the Republican Party, the same spending bills that have been voted on several times this week. Those votes all failed. This one will likely fail as well. Are you seeing cracks in the Republicans and a willingness to negotiate?
WARNOCK: Well, look, I’m the pastor. And so I’m always hoping against hope. I’ve had some conversations, I’ll tell you that, with some of my colleagues. But this is what I know. A lot of these Republicans in my state and across the country, it’s their own constituents in red districts who’re going to be hit the hardest by this. This is not a Democrat and Republican issue, and folks who think so are really missing the point. Not long ago, I was down in Claxton, Georgia. I’m from south Georgia. And I was at the Evans Memorial Hospital. Rural hospitals in our country are struggling. And that’s part of the urgency of this moment.
That hospital may well lose its ICU. It’s already lost its labor and delivery unit. And not only that hospital, the other three that are in the area. So imagine that. Even if you have health insurance, even if you are a person of some means, if you live in that part of rural Georgia and you are having a baby, there’s no labor and delivery unit nearby. You’re literally having to drive miles and miles to get to an OB-GYN. So let’s be clear, health care in this country was not in a great state to begin with.
FADEL: No.
WARNOCK: We’re not defending that. But what I don’t want to do is make it worse.
FADEL: I want to ask you about the pain a lot of Georgians might be feeling now in this shutdown, further pain. Your state is home to a number of federal agencies, the Centers for Disease Control. The EPA has a headquarters there. It’s also home to a number of military installations. So a lot of people affected by this shutdown. What are you saying to Georgians about why the stand your party is taking is worth the pain they’re going to feel without their check?
WARNOCK: Let me be clear, I don’t want a shutdown. And that’s the reason why I voted for a CR, a continuing resolution, this week. I voted for it a few times now. That would both keep the government open and fund health care. Republicans are saying to Americans that you got to choose. Basically, they’re saying, well, we’ve cut off health care. And you either allow us to do this or we’re going to lay off, and in some cases fire, thousands, thousands of federal workers. And that’s what the Trump administration is doing right now. And they’re tweeting and they’re bragging about it.
FADEL: Well, they actually tweeted about you by name, an X account associated with the White House saying this is your fault, saying to Georgians this is Democrats. Senator Ossoff and Senator Warnock caused this. How do you respond to being named and blamed for this shutdown?
WARNOCK: Listen, I’m not worried about me. I have health care. But I’m really worried about my constituents. Stop playing games. What I would say to the White House is stop playing games. Stop acting like these are pieces on a chessboard. These are people’s lives.
FADEL: Earlier…
WARNOCK: And…
FADEL: Sorry, go ahead.
WARNOCK: This is a choice that they are making.
FADEL: Earlier in the program, we spoke to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. And my cohost Steve Inskeep mentioned you’d be coming on today. And she had this question for you.
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KAROLINE LEAVITT: Please, please, why don’t you do the right thing by your constituents in Georgia and vote to keep the government open? Let’s reopen the government, and then we can have a robust debate on the issue of health care. That’s what I would pass along to the Senator.
FADEL: What do you say to her?
WARNOCK: Listen, I voted to keep the government open a few times this week. Why don’t they come down to Georgia and look into the faces of the people that I’m seeing? I talked to a woman this week, Teresa Acosta, who started a small business five years ago in the midst of the COVID pandemic because she lost her job. And she, step by step, brick by brick, has been building that business. Well, recently, she decided that she had to close the business because they won’t extend the Obamacare tax subsidies that make health care affordable. So this woman has to close her business. She’s now looking for a job, hoping that she’ll have health care. That’s who I’m focused on.
FADEL: The vice president, we heard there from Karoline Leavitt, Senator John Thune, they all say, well, vote for our bill, and then we’ll negotiate about health care later.
WARNOCK: Why should we? Basically, they’re saying trust us. But the problem with that is that these are the people who raised premiums on 22 million Americans already. Their track record is bad. So, look, I don’t expect that Republicans will see this in exactly the same way that I do. But what’s amazing to me is that they’ve refused to even negotiate. We’ve never seen anything like this. They’ve refused to even sit down and talk. And I think this is the cruel bet that they’re making. They’re betting that I care more about these people in Georgia, who are losing their jobs and who are struggling with health care, than they do. And sadly, that appears to be the case. I hope they’ll center the people, and then we have a chance at getting the public policy right.
FADEL: That’s Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia. Thank you so much for your time.
WARNOCK: Thank you.
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