Leatherstocking Region Representatives
Respond to Government Shutdown
By ERIC SANTOMAURO-STENZEL
WASHINGTON, D.C.
At 12:01 a.m. on October 1, the federal government shut down for the first time since 2018. The shutdown came after several failed votes where Democrats and Republicans rejected the other’s funding proposals. That included a Republican-supported continuing resolution (H.R. 5371) that would keep funds at current levels temporarily while negotiations proceed, as happened in March. Democratic leaders say their party will only vote for a funding bill that maintains and expands healthcare subsidies (S. 2882). Some Democrats also cite the Trump administration’s refusal to spend already appropriated funds as a reason why they feel Republicans are negotiating in bad faith.
In posts on X over the last few days, Russ Vought, the director of the United States Office of Management and Budget, announced the Trump administration was withholding tens of billions of dollars in funds for infrastructure projects, citing “unconstitutional DEI principles.” All the states where Vought announced cancellations had two Democratic senators and majorities voting for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. Among them were New York, where Vought said the administration was withholding “roughly $18 billion” allotted for the New York City Second Avenue subway extension and Gateway Tunnel.
Rep. Josh Riley, a Democrat who represents New York’s 19th Congressional District, spanning from the Ithaca area to the Massachusetts border, including all of Otsego County, told the Kingston “Daily Freeman” last week that “I’m willing to work with anyone to protect our healthcare and reopen the government.” His statement said that, “In the meantime, no matter what happens in Washington, my office will remain open to serve Upstate New Yorkers.”
In a September 30 video statement, shortly before the shutdown began, Riley focused his concerns on rural healthcare.
“Earlier this summer, Republicans passed a budget that is absolutely devastating to rural healthcare,” he said. Republicans are “driving us into a government shutdown that would only make things worse.” Decrying “politics as usual,” Riley said “back home in Upstate New York, this really matters.” He said he will “work with anybody who’s willing to invest in rural healthcare, make sure our rural hospitals survive, and do right by Upstate New York.”
Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican whose 21st District covers the North Country and some areas south of it, has issued cutting statements critical of both state and federal Democrats.
In a September 30 statement, Stefanik said she has consistently opposed shutdowns throughout her career and blamed Democrats for “forcing a shutdown by voting NO on government funding because Chuck Schumer got absolutely walloped earlier this year by the radical Far Left because he voted to fund the government.”
Also critical of Governor Kathy Hochul, whom she plans to run against in next year’s gubernatorial race, Stefanik said New York Democrats “are putting hardworking New Yorkers and Americans LAST because they are forcing a government shutdown by concocting an unrelated policy issue that doesn’t even come up legislatively until the end of the year.”
Stefanik said she will not take a salary during the shutdown.
In an October 3 statement, Stefanik said “The Worst Governor in America Kathy Hochul is once again a hypocritical fraud” for supporting both Senate Minority Leader and New York Senator Chuck Schumer’s March continuing resolution position and the current position to withhold votes for it. Stefanik said Hochul has “flip flopped” because of “Commie Mamdani and sold her political soul to the radical Far Left” because “she wants illegal immigrants to get health care paid for by New York taxpayers.”
Stefanik’s statement did not provide an explanation for her last claim.
Rep. John Mannion, a Democrat whose 22nd District is anchored by Syracuse and Utica, also said he will not take pay during the shutdown.
In an October 5 Facebook post, Mannion said “1. Republicans have shut the government down.
2. Republicans do not want a floor vote on the Epstein files.”
In an accompanying video, Mannion emphasized that Republicans control majorities in both houses of Congress, but that Speaker Mike Johnson has cancelled multiple days of session. Mannion also pointed to Johnson’s slowness to swear in a recently-elected Democrat, Adelita Grijalva of Arizona, who won her special election nearly two weeks ago as of press time.
“Speaker, we have work to do,” Mannion said. “Problems to solve. Enemies around the world that wish for our demise. Government services that we need to provide, and a work force that needs support. Why are we not supposed to be in Washington, D.C. doing the people’s work?”
Mannion said it is because Grijalva would be the final vote needed to force a vote on the full release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
“So let’s get back to work,” Mannion said.
Speaker Johnson replied to similar allegations by Democrats on “Meet the Press” last Sunday, calling them “absurd” and a “red herring.” He said the House’s work was done, having passed a clean continuing resolution. “The reason the government is closed is because Chuck Schumer and 43 of his Democratic colleagues in the Senate have decided now to vote multiple times to keep the government closed. We need them to turn the lights back on so that everyone can do their work.”
Are you or a loved one a federal worker, or a recipient of federal services and benefits? We want to hear from you about the impact of the shutdown on your life, and how you’d like to see it resolved. E-mail info@allotsego.com with your story.
