Vice President JD Vance argued on Sunday that Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), were more interested in holding the federal government “hostage” than in negotiating an end to the ongoing government shutdown.

Vance, speaking with CBS News anchor Margaret Brennan, said that Democrats did not want to talk about health care — what they wanted was to use the shutdown to make demands until the White House and Republicans in Congress simply capitulated and gave them everything.

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When pressed on why President Trump hasn’t met with congressional leaders at the White House to negotiate a deal to reopen the government, Vice President JD Vance tells @margbrennan: “This isn’t a deal-making. This isn’t a negotiation. This is hostage-taking.”

“If Chuck Schumer… pic.twitter.com/Io73ycakfW

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) October 12, 2025

“When I pressed Leader Schumer on this program just last Sunday about this, about reopening the government, and he said it’s going to take getting everyone in the same room with the President of the United States — only the five people including the president can solve it,” Brennan recalled, asking Vance why President Donald Trump has not demanded that congressional leaders return to Washington in order to get that done.

“Well, as Chuck Schumer said, it’s not all lawmakers, it’s the Senate leadership that really is driving this shutdown,” Vance replied, noting that the Republican-led House had already passed a Continuing Resolution that would reopen the government, at least temporarily.

“But the president says he’s a deal-maker,” Brennan interrupted. “Why doesn’t he force a deal here?”

“Margaret, it’s a totally fair question, and the answer is because this isn’t a deal-making. This isn’t a negotiation. This is hostage-taking,” Vance declared. “Chuck Schumer has not said to us, ‘This is what we need,’ he’s said, ‘Unless you give us what we need, we’re going to shut down the government. That is a totally different thing.”

“If Chuck Schumer wants to come into the Oval Office or come to my house, he is welcome to talk about how to fix health care policy for Americans,” the vice president added. “But you don’t come into the Oval Office and say, unless you, the president of the United States, give us everything that I want, I’m going to shut down the government.”

Vance echoed the sentiments expressed late last week by CNBC anchor Joe Kernen, who challenged House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries directly about the demands Democrats were making.

“There was an election, and the Republicans were put in a position where they were able to pass the Big Beautiful Bill, or as you call it the ‘Big Ugly Bill.’ To then say, ‘We don’t like any of that, so we’re going to shut down the government until you take back all the things that you duly passed through legislation …’” Kernen began, arguing that if the shoe were on the other foot, Democrats would be angry — and rightfully so.

“If Republicans had tried to do that to the Inflation Reduction Act or the — any of the acts that Biden and that administration have passed — if they said we’re going to shut down the government because we don’t like any of those things you did, ‘we’re not going to pay our military, we are going to not allow the government to reopen until you do what we want’ – after an election where the American people put Democrats in power – you’d be going crazy!” he said.

Vice President JD Vance pushed back when ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos tried to make their Sunday morning interview about an FBI surveillance tape that allegedly showed Border Czar Tom Homan accepting $50,000 in cash.

Vance defended Homan, but then also chastised Stephanopoulos for fixating on a “ridiculous smear” and a “bogus story” rather than using his time to address the issues that were impacting Americans on a day-to-day basis.

“The White House border czar Tom Homan was recorded on an FBI surveillance tape in September 2024 accepting $50,000 in cash. Did he keep that money or give it back?” Stephanopoulos began the segment.

“George, you’ve covered the story ad nauseum,” Vance pushed back. “Tom Homan did not take a bribe. It’s a ridiculous smear. And the reason you guys are going after Tom Homan so aggressively is because he’s doing the job of enforcing the law. I think it’s really preposterous. I know Tom, I think that he’s a good man. He gets death threats, he gets attacked, he gets constantly threatened by people because he has the audacity to want to enforce the country’s immigration laws. I think that it would be a much more interesting story about why is it that Tom Homan, who is simply enforcing America’s immigration laws, is getting constantly harassed and threatened to the point of death threats? That’s a much more interesting question that I think journalists should focus on. We can agree to disagree on that question.”

Stephanopoulos tried again to push the question with his framing: “Well, wait, you said he didn’t take a bribe, but I’m not sure you answered the question. Are you saying that he did not accept the $50,000?”

The exchange continued in that vein — and Stephnopoulos tried several other iterations of the same question: “So you don’t — what was caught on the tape, you’re saying right now you don’t know whether or not he kept that money?”

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.@VP nukes George Slopidopolous for obsessing over made-up Fake News BS while not asking a single question about the Democrat Shutdown: “Here’s, George, why fewer and fewer people watch your program…”

George gets big mad, cuts @VP off, and goes to commercial 🤣 pic.twitter.com/VVm2FV5ujd

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 12, 2025

“I don’t know what tape you’re referring to, George. I saw media reports that Tom Homan accepted a bribe. There’s no evidence of that,” Vance argued. “And here’s, George, why fewer and fewer people watch your program, and why you’re losing credibility. Because you’re talking for now, five minutes with the Vice President of United States about this story regarding Tom Homan, a story that I’ve read about, but I don’t even know the video that you’re talking about.”

Vance went on to suggest that there were far more important stories that ABC would do well to cover — issues like the government shutdown, driven by Democrats, that were impacting regular Americans from day to day.

“Low-income women can’t get food because the Democrats and Chuck Schumer have shut down the government. Right now, we’re trying to figure out how to pay our troops because Chuck Schumer has shut down the government. You are focused on a bogus story. You’re insinuating criminal wrongdoing against a guy who has done nothing wrong instead of focusing on the fact that our country is struggling because our government is shut down,” he said. “Let’s talk about the real issues, George. I think the American people would benefit much more from that than from you going down some weird left-wing rabbit hole, where the facts clearly show that Tom Homan didn’t engage in any criminal wrongdoing.”

“It’s not a weird left-wing rabbit hole,” Stephanopoulos objected before bringing the segment to a close. “I didn’t insinuate anything. I asked you whether Tom Homan accepted $50,000, as was heard on an audiotape recorded by the FBI in September 2024, and you did not answer the question. Thank you for your time this morning.”