It’s been one week since the government shutdown began, and I am sorry to report from Washington that there is no end yet in sight.

House Republicans are blaming Democrats every chance they get and, at the same time, refusing to talk with Democrats to reopen the government and protect Americans’ health care.  We can, and must, be able to protect Americans' health care and fund the government. 

Republicans control the House, the Senate, and White House.  They have not only the ability but the responsibility to end this government shutdown—as they did to prevent it in the first place—by putting a bill on the floor of the House and the Senate that has the votes to pass.  It’s that simple.

Speaker Johnson, President Trump and others continue to try to say this is the fault of Democrats, but they are completely in charge.  If they want to end the shutdown, they can.

First, they need to get back to Washington and get to work.  But sadly, they are instead making false claims about what is (and is not) happening.  You may have heard them saying that Democrats caused the shutdown to expand health care for undocumented immigrants.  That’s simply not true.  Under longstanding federal law, undocumented immigrants are not eligible for federally funded health care coverage.  There is a lot of this kind of bad information floating around, getting us nowhere.

It doesn’t have to be this way.  Texans and all Americans deserve a government that works for them, not against them.  I’ve been in Washington with my House Democratic colleagues ready to work to solve these and other problems.  And one of the things that we can do to help try to solve the problem is make sure that we have a new House Speaker in 2027, and that Democrats control the House of Representatives.

Thanks for your help in that effort, and for all you continue to do for our work together and for our country.

Together we can do anything,