Folks –

Late last night, the Senate advanced a continuing resolution to fund the government through January 30th.

I voted no because this legislation does nothing to address the Republican health care crisis – and without swift action, many Virginians will see their health care premiums double.

Make no mistake: this is not a vote I took lightly.

In my time in politics, I’ve always believed in the importance of cutting bipartisan deals. And until this CR, I had been a part of every bipartisan deal made in the Senate in the past decade.

Instead of coming to the table to negotiate a long-term deal to address the health care crisis of his own making, Donald Trump did everything in his power to inflict the maximum amount of pain on Americans during this shutdown.

Every day this shutdown drags on, Virginians feel it.

Federal workers are struggling to pay their bills. Families are unsure how they will put food on the table because this administration is cruelly and deliberately withholding the assistance they need.

I want nothing more than to reopen the government, get folks back to work, and end the needless hardship this Republican shutdown is causing.

But it comes down to this: we owe the American people more than a short-term fix that leaves working families staring down a health care crisis, and simply kicking the can down the road is not good enough.

More soon,

Mark Warner