Vice President JD Vance stated on Sunday that there is “a lot of waste and fraud” in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, which form the core of the congressional funding crisis that has led to the government shutdown.

Vance told CBS News, “Tax credits are given to some people undeservedly, and we believe this actually leads to a lot of waste and fraud in the insurance sector.”

He added, “We want to make sure that tax credits go to those who deserve them.”

Democrats in Congress demand that any government funding legislation include an extension of enhanced ACA support, which is set to expire at the end of this year. Meanwhile, Republicans seek to pass a temporary measure to resume federal funding at current levels until November 21.

Both bills failed to pass in the Senate for the seventh time last Thursday, prolonging the federal shutdown that began on October 1.

With neither party backing down from its demands, both Republicans and Democrats blame each other for the shutdown.

About 22 million out of 24 million people enrolled in health insurance plans under Obamacare, sold in government marketplaces, received enhanced subsidies under the ACA, reducing the cost of this insurance.

The enhanced subsidies were implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, increasing financial aid value for enrollees and making more middle-income registrants eligible for assistance.

The Kaiser Family Foundation’s health policy research group recently stated that the average premium paid for an ACA plan would more than double in 2026 if the enhanced tax credits expire.

On Sunday, JD Vance accused Democrats of “extortion,” telling CBS News there is “a strong willingness” among moderate Democrats and the White House to negotiate and compromise.

Vance said, “But if the far-left Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer, will shut down the government and refuse to open it unless they get everything they want, that’s not negotiation. That’s extortion, and we won’t reward Washington, D.C. for that kind of behavior.”

Earlier on Sunday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, said Democrats “have repeatedly affirmed that we will sit down with anyone, anytime, anywhere.”

Jeffries told Fox News Sunday, “This is not about party, it’s about the American people.”

Jeffries said, “If Republicans continue to refuse to extend the ACA tax credits, tens of millions of people will face huge increases in insurance premiums, copayments, and deductibles, leading to insurance costs doubling, tripling, or quadrupling.”

He also described the Republican proposal as a “partisan Republican spending bill,” saying the current spending levels the Republican bill would resume are “unacceptable.”

The impact of the government shutdown has escalated recently after the Trump administration began mass federal employee layoffs on Friday.

President Donald Trump – who repeatedly threatened to use the shutdown to cut programs popular among Democrats – said on Friday that the layoffs would be “targeted at Democrats.”

Employees in the Treasury, Health and Human Services, Commerce, Education, Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, and Interior departments received notices of permanent job cuts, officially known as “workforce reductions.”

The Trump administration canceled layoffs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Saturday after hundreds of scientists received “incorrect notices” that they were included in the mass layoffs, according to a source familiar with the matter who spoke to NBC News.

The source added that the layoffs were caused by a “system glitch.” Among affected CDC employees were those working on measles and Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo and so-called disease detectives working in epidemiological intelligence, according to the source.

When asked about the canceled layoffs at the CDC, Vice President Vance told CBS News on Sunday that “government shutdown inevitably leads to some chaos,” blaming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, and the Democrats.

Vance said, “If Chuck Schumer and the far-left Democrats in the Senate shut down the government, it will lead to some chaos.”