Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) lashed out at House Democrats who have been critical of the Senate Democrats who voted last week to end the longest government shutdown in history, saying that the pain a longer shutdown would have inflicted on the American people was not worth it.
Kaine joined anchor Kristen Welker on Sunday’s broadcast of “Meet the Press,” and he responded to comments from House members like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) — some of whom have gone so far as to call for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to step down from his leadership role or retire altogether — by effectively telling them to mind their own business.
WATCH
Tim Kaine lashes out at AOC after NBC plays a clip of her saying Senate Democrats look weak.
KAINE: “Would it have been another week of SNAP recipients losing their benefits? Another month of air travelers enduring chaos and even danger?” pic.twitter.com/gL4uvto4hi
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 16, 2025
Welker began with a clip of Ocasio-Cortez, who claimed that the Democrats who voted to end the shutdown were sending a message to voters that “Democrats are weak” and then — ignoring the fact that Democrats had been the ones keeping the government from reopening from the start — argued that all Republicans had to do to make them cave was “hurt working people.”
Kaine was not having any of that, however, and he said so. “I have 320,000 federal employees in Virginia, and together with their families that’s probably 700,000 dependents. Getting them all back to work with two paychecks that they’ve missed restored, with protections against future firings, you know, some folks like AOC may think that’s nothing. Virginians think that’s an awful lot.”
Kaine went on to ask what some of the others who voted to end the shutdown had asked themselves before changing their votes: “Would it have been another week of SNAP recipients losing their benefits? Another month of air travelers enduring chaos and even danger?”
Others in the House, like Khanna, have argued that because the Senate Democrats did not hold out longer, that proved it was time for Schumer to step down. He also suggested that Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) would be good replacements.
WATCH:
Dem Rep Ro Khanna goes scorched earth on Chuck Schumer…
…then names Chris Murphy, Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren as “dynamic” talents that could lead the party forward.
Yikes. pic.twitter.com/IDLdq4iG7g
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) November 16, 2025
Kaine was clearly unimpressed with Khanna as well, saying, “I don’t tell Ro Khanna or AOC or anybody else who you should pick as your House leader, because I got a full time job being a senator. I don’t need to freelance opinions about House leadership. They should focus on their own leadership and let senators do what we need to do to keep this country moving forward.”
WATCH:
Tim Kaine: “I don’t tell Ro Khanna or AOC or anybody else who you should pick as your House leader, because I got a full time job being a senator. I don’t need to freelance opinions about House leadership. They should focus on their own leadership and let senators do what we need… pic.twitter.com/tN4N1Xe50w
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 16, 2025
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