Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is urging her Democratic colleagues in Congress to stand firm against President Donald Trump as the federal government is set to shut down on Wednesday morning amid a spending standoff.
“Protecting people is too important a task for us to give up before anything even starts,” she told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on Tuesday evening.
Republicans have offered a bill that would fund the government at current levels as spending negotiations continue, but Democrats want to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire by the end of the year.
Trump has said he’s not worried about the public turning on him over the shutdown.
But Ocasio-Cortez said he should be, because the president and the Republican Party are weaker than they look.
