U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R) is placing responsibility squarely on Senate Democrats regarding the government shutdown, accusing them of stalling government funding in pursuit of partisan priorities.
"The blame for this government shutdown lies squarely on the Senate Democrats' shoulders," said Cornyn in a statement.
He criticized Democratic leadership for leveraging the budget process to push what he called a "far-left progressive" agenda.
According to Cornyn, Democrats are insisting on changes that would reverse provisions in a previous spending package, referred to as the "One Big Beautiful Bill," that limited Medicaid access for undocumented immigrants.
"One of the provisions we made in that bill was to limit illegal aliens' access to Medicaid because some states were gaming the Medicaid program," explained Cornyn.
He also disputed Democratic claims that their version of the Continuing Resolution does not provide health benefits to undocumented individuals.
"Democrats have claimed over and over again they're not attempting to fund health care for illegal aliens, but as I've demonstrated, that's not true," he said.
Cornyn also criticized Democrats for demanding an extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies.
"This is really Obamacare on steroids," he said, noting that the subsidies don't expire until the end of the year.
"To hold this short-term, stopgap spending bill hostage is really unconscionable," Cornyn concluded.
His remarks highlight the concerns that Republicans have shared since the beginning of the government shutdown. The GOP accuses Senate Democrats of using the government funding standoff to push partisan healthcare policies at the expense of bipartisan compromise.
