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EXCLUSIVE: A House Republican exploring higher office is predicting the ongoing government shutdown will make the 2026 midterm field a more difficult one for Democrats.
“Once all the dust settles, I think people will think, ‘Why did the Democrats shut it down? What was their reason? What did they get out of it?’” Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, told Fox News Digital.
“And I think once this all passes over the next two, three months, I think people will think, like, ‘Shame on all these partisan antics the government did and shame on [Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.] for going down this path, having no idea of how to get it reopened.”
Feenstra is expected to announce a run for Iowa governor, having already started gathering endorsements and creating a “Feenstra for Governor” website.
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He’s also one of the vast majority of House Republicans who voted to pass the GOP’s government funding bill on Sept. 19.
It was a seven-week extension of fiscal year (FY) 2025 federal funding levels called a continuing resolution (CR), aimed at giving congressional negotiators more time to strike a longer-term deal on FY2026 spending.
But in the Senate, where at least several Democrats are needed to reach the 60-vote threshold to break a filibuster, progress has stalled.
Senate Democrats have tanked the bill in the upper chamber 11 times since the House passed it.
Three members of the Senate Democratic caucus have been voting with Republicans, but under the current tally, at least five more are needed to hold a final vote on the bill.
Democrats are demanding that any funding bill be paired with significant concessions on healthcare, specifically an extension of Obamacare subsidies that were enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic, which are set to expire at the end of this year.
“I think it affects people up and down the ticket, because you have the Democrats … who say, ‘Schumer is right.’ You have these liberal progressives that no matter what happens, they just want to spend more money, and they want to make sure illegal immigrants get healthcare,” Feenstra said.
“It’s very concerning, I think once people understand that, I think it could have a really catastrophic effect on Democrats next election cycle,” he said.
Democrats have called GOP accusations that they want to restore healthcare for illegal immigrants a lie. A counter-proposal for a CR introduced by Democrats last month would eliminate healthcare changes in Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, some of which are aimed at keeping certain noncitizens from accessing government-funded healthcare.
Feenstra also criticized Democrats’ counter-proposal because it would eliminate a new $50 billion rural hospital fund established in Republicans’ policy bill.
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“Everybody’s really worried about our healthcare. There’s $50 billion in the ‘big, beautiful bill,’ [President Donald Trump’s] big, beautiful bill, to help critical access hospitals in the Midwest and in Iowa. That’s in jeopardy right now,” Feenstra said.
“So there’s a lot of concern right now in rural Iowa. And everybody understands that you’ve got to get the government open so that we can negotiate and figure this out.”
The Iowa Republican, whose district skews heavily rural, said he was also worried about critical programs for farmers that are endangered by the shutdown.
“This is really affecting the farm community over in the Midwest,” he said.
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