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.

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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

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) apologized on Sunday for her role in “toxic politics,” saying that heated political rhetoric was something she’d been giving a lot more thought to in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

CNN anchor Dana Bash pressed the Georgia congresswoman on “State of the Union” in the wake of a series of attacks she’d received from President Donald Trump, asking why she’d never spoken up for others who found themselves the target of Trump’s outbursts in the past.

WATCH:

BASH: “We have seen these kinds of attacks or criticism from the President at other people. It’s not new. And with respect, I haven’t heard you speak out about it until it was directed at you.”

GREENE: “Dana, I think that’s fair criticism, and I would like to say humbly, I’m… pic.twitter.com/mEURshZcfI

— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) November 16, 2025

“We have seen these kinds of attacks or criticism from the President at other people. It’s not new. And with respect, I haven’t heard you speak out about it until it was directed at you,” Bash prompted.

“Dana, I think that’s fair criticism,” Greene replied. “And I would like to say humbly, I’m sorry for taking part in the toxic politics. It’s very bad for our country. And it’s been something I’ve thought about a lot, especially since Charlie Kirk was assassinated.”

Greene went on to say that she was trying to be more intentional about choosing her words and wanted to “put down the knives in politics” moving forward. “I really just want to see people be kind to one another,” she added. “And we need to figure out a new path forward that is focused on the American people because as Americans, no matter what side of the aisle we’re on, we have far more in common than we have differences.”

Bash went through a list of objectionable social media comments then, including some from as far back as 2020 that had promoted violent imagery, and asked Greene if she was saying she disavowed such statements. Greene noted that she had addressed those posts in the past and stood by her prior assessment.

Greene also said during the same interview that she hoped her relationship with President Trump could still be repaired.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on whether she can fix her relationship with President Trump:

“Well, I certainly hope that we can make up. And there’s you know, again, I can only speak for myself. I’m a Christian and one of the most important parts of our faith is forgiveness. And… pic.twitter.com/GH4qT2uoHt

— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) November 16, 2025