Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Wednesday called for federal lawmakers to negotiate, to focus on providing “basic functions” for people, rather than accepting a government shutdown.

Congress has until midnight on Sept. 30 to avoid a federal shutdown. On Friday, Sept. 19, House Republicans and one Democrat passed a stopgap that would have funded the government through Nov. 20, but Senate Democrats blocked it from advancing. Democrats filed their own proposal, but Senate Republicans blocked that bill from moving forward. Congress is out of town this week and has no plans to reconvene before the deadline.

Speaking during a visit to Smith Island, Maryland, Moore said it didn’t make sense for politicians to demand Medicaid cuts in order to keep the federal government open.

“I don’t understand how a condition for keeping government open is by kicking people off of health care so millionaires can get tax cuts,” Moore said. “Like, how do you sleep at night? When that’s your governance philosophy, when you were so concerned about giving millionaires tax cuts that you were willing to watch rural hospitals close to be able to fulfill that? That’s not governance. That is cruelty.”

He added, “I think the Republicans should be losing sleep over this.”

A focus on ‘basic functions’

Democrats in budget talks have called for a rollback of Medicaid cuts made in the One Big, Beautiful Bill, along with protection so already approved funds can’t be clawed back by Republicans or the White House. Republicans, meanwhile, have pushed for a continuing resolution, funding agencies at their current levels through Nov. 21, to give time to negotiate on a longer budget.

On Wednesday, Moore said providing basic functions for residents should be the focus.

“Basic functions like making sure that veterans can get their medication, basic functions like people should be able to visit national parks, basic functions that governments should be able to perform and say that and not find it complicated to say we can do that and not kick people off of health care,” Moore said.

He argued the proposed budget as it stands would disproportionally hurt Maryland in several ways, including potential impacts to 270,000 federal workers living in the state and 160,000 federal jobs in Maryland.

Moore also zeroed in on potential health care impacts.

“Right now, the budget that’s being proposed is going to kick an estimated 25% of a million Marylanders off of health care,” Moore argued. “We’re seeing how $250 million is being taken away from rural hospitals in the state of Maryland by this by this budget that we’re supposed to just grin and bear it. We have seen how health care has been pulled away, the federal assets and federal agencies that they are trying to shutter.”

Moore said, in essence, Marylanders “have watched a federal government shutdown across the state of Maryland for the past nine months.”

“Donald Trump has fired, now, over 15,000 federal workers in the state,” he said. “We have seen how healthcare has been pulled away, that federal assets and federal agencies that they’re trying to shutter. So, the truth is that Donald Trump has been pushing for a federal government shutdown for a very long time.”

The problem, Moore said, is that too many Washington politicians aren’t willing to find a way to move forward, as evidenced by the fact they all left for the week.

“I do not support a government shutdown, but I do find it embarrassing that Washington cannot figure out a way of staying out of one,” Moore said.

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