RICHMOND, Va. β The federal government shut down at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday after a vote to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government narrowly failed Tuesday night, marking the first shutdown since 2019 during President Donald Trump's first term.
As of July, approximately 187,000 federal employees work in Virginia, including TSA workers, national parks employees and military personnel who will continue working without pay during the shutdown.
Both Virginia Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner were among several Democrats who voted against the bill. If a continuing resolution passes, the government can temporarily run on existing spending levels, which Kaine says could be problematic for Virginians' healthcare following a Republican spending bill passed over the summer.
"Hundreds of thousands of Virginians are going to lose health insurance. Many, many more are going to see their premiums spike," Kaine said.
Wednesday, Gov. Glenn Youngkin criticized Kaine, Warner and other holdouts, saying they are holding Virginians hostage.
"No Virginia senator should be voting to shutdown the government because they know the impact that it has, yes on America, but particularly on Virginia," Youngkin said.
Virginia Republican Representative Rob Wittman took to social media, posting his request that his pay be withheld for as long as the shutdown persists, adding that federal employees should not suffer from Congress' inaction while its members continue getting paid.
As lawmakers return to negotiations, Kaine promised Virginia workers going without paychecks will receive relief when the government reopens.
"In the last shutdown I got a bill passed that guarantees the all federal employees got backpay," Kaine said. "The next paycheck federal employees get will be unaffected. The one after that is likely to have five days nicked off of it. And then the third paycheck would be the one they would not get, but our goal is to find a deal forward before we get to that."
Youngkin called for immediate Senate action to resolve the impasse.
"The best way for us to address this is for the Senate to go to work right now and cast 60 votes. There were Democrats who voted yesterday, so it's not like there aren't Democrats who will vote for it," Youngkin said.
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