Vice President JD Vance tore into Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday, crediting him for the government shutdown, which Senate Democrats are using “for the benefit of illegal aliens.”
The government shut down at midnight after Senate Democrats used for ransom their demands for $1.5 trillion to provide free healthcare to illegal aliens and gender transition care for minors.
This is despite an overwhelming majority of voters, including nearly half of Democrats, saying in a recent New York Times poll that they did not think the Democrats should force a government shutdown to push their radical agenda.
Vance was asked by Newsmax’s Mike Carter about a tweet he posted on Tuesday, highlighting an old clip of Chuck Schumer in the 90s railing against taxpayer benefits for illegals, which he called “fraud in immigration.” Vance responded, “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.”
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. https://t.co/iFm9snfiQ9
— JD Vance (@JDVance) September 30, 2025
Vance told Carter that he thinks the Democratic leadership has “got it into their heads that the only way to be compassionate is to be compassionate to illegal aliens, rather than American citizens.”
” 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,” he added.
WATCH:
Carter: You responded to a post on X and 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?
Vance: You know, that’s a good question. Actually, it’s a very tough question. Asking me to get in 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 their 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 and 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.
But earlier in the briefing, during his opening remarks, Vance delivered a scathing rebuke of Schumer’s reversal. He stated that Schumer is “listening to the far left radicals in his own party,” likely because he is “terrified” that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will challenge him for his seat next election.
WATCH:
Vance: I Think a lot of Americans are asking themselves, why did this happen? Why did the Democrats shut down the government, despite, as Caroline 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 could give, all of them true. One answer I already gave is that they want to give health care benefits to illegal aliens. That is true. They gave us legislative text that would have undone us cutting off health care 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. 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.