A Democratic congressman suggested Friday that the party may pursue another government shutdown in January, signaling that the bitter funding fight that closed Washington for 43 days may resume when the current short-term deal expires.
Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA), who represents South Boston, made the remarks during an interview with CNN’s Omar Jimenez as lawmakers reacted to President Trump’s signing of legislation to reopen the government.
The comments were quickly highlighted by RNC Research, which wrote on X, “Democrat Rep. Stephen Lynch says he is ‘furious’ that the government reopened and suggests the Democrats will shut down the government again in January.”
In the CNN clip, Lynch said, “I’m, I’m, I’m furious with the senators who decided to bail on us.”
Lynch added, “There may be another opportunity in January, when this CR expires, but I’m not sure this experience has stiffened their spine.”
He continued, “They should worry more about the people they represent, than, than, you know, the Republican speaker or, or the White House.”
The 43-day shutdown, which stretched from late September to mid-November, was the longest in U.S. history, surpassing the 2018-2019 shutdown by eight days.
Trump signed the bill reopening the government late Wednesday evening after the House passed it in a 222-209 vote and the Senate approved it earlier in the day.
The short-term funding package provides money for most federal agencies through Jan. 30, 2026.
It also extends full-year appropriations for the Departments of Agriculture and Veterans Affairs, as well as the legislative branch.
The bill restores pay and back pay for more than one million federal workers who were furloughed or forced to work without pay during the shutdown.
Roughly 650,000 employees are expected to return to work as early as Thursday.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who helped craft the agreement, described the legislation as “a clean resolution that reopens government and restores services.”
Senate Democrats criticized the measure for not extending certain Affordable Care Act health-insurance subsidies they wanted included in the package.
The ongoing disagreement suggests that another confrontation could be looming when the January deadline arrives.
Vice President J.D. Vance sharply criticized Democrats in an interview on Thursday night, accusing them of “inflicting pain on Americans all for nothing” after Congress voted to reopen the federal government following the longest shutdown in U.S. history. Speaking on Fox News’ “Hannity,” Vance said the 43-day shutdown — which ended after President Donald Trump signed a short-term funding bill on Wednesday — exposed how far the far-left wing of the Democratic Party was willing to go in its opposition to the administration.
“Here’s what the Democrats actually accomplished,” Vance said. “They caused a lot of stress for our troops. They made our air traffic controllers not get paid. They caused flight cancellations. They made families think they wouldn’t get their food benefits. All for literally nothing.”
Vance argued that Democrats’ real motivation was not fiscal policy, but political sabotage. “They don’t care if the troops don’t get paid. They don’t care if they shut down the airline industry,” he said. “They don’t care if they have to burn the entire country down in order to get Trump.”
The vice president said the final agreement that reopened the government was identical to one Democrats had rejected six weeks earlier.
“We could have struck this exact deal 45 days ago,” Vance said. “In fact, we met with Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer and said we will pass this exact deal. They said no.”