Vance faults Dems for previously rejecting ‘exact deal’ that reopened the government: ‘All for nothing’

Vice President JD Vance gave his first public remarks on the federal government officially reopening, telling “Hannity,” the shutdown inflicted massive pain on Americans “all for nothing.”

“Here’s what the Democrats actually accomplished. They caused a lot of stress for our troops. They made our air traffic controllers not get paid. They caused a lot of flight cancellations. They had a lot of people thinking they weren’t going to get their food benefits. All for literally nothing,” Vance told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview set to air Thursday.

Vance claimed the House deal that ended the shutdown was identical to one top Democrats rejected weeks earlier.

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“We could have struck this exact deal 45 days ago,” the vice president said. “In fact, we met with Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer and said we will pass this exact deal. They said no.”

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance salute during a ceremony at Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery to mark Veterans Day Nov. 11, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The vice president went on to praise President Donald Trump’s leadership during the 43-day standoff, saying they “knew this was going to happen.”

President Donald Trump and Chuck Schumer. (Getty Images)

“The president of the United States said every day eventually the Democrats were going to realize this was an absurd position, we’ve got to reopen the government and that’s what they did,” Vance said.

ABC, CBS and NBC provided Democrat-friendly coverage of the 2025 government shutdown, according to a new study from the Media Research Center.  (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

President Trump signed legislation to fund the government again Wednesday night. He signaled Monday the government would open soon, as consequences of a lapse in funding continued to snowball, including missed paychecks for federal workers and airline delays stemming from air traffic controller staffing shortages.

The bill keeps government funding at the same levels during fiscal year 2025 through Jan. 30 to provide additional time to hash out a longer appropriations measure for fiscal year 2026.

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The measure also funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that more than 42 million Americans rely on through September. The program supports non- or low-income individuals or families to purchase groceries on a debit card.

Don’t miss Vice President JD Vance’s interview with Sean Hannity when it airs tonight on “Hannity” at 9 p.m. ET on Fox News Channel.