
<p>As Americans nationwide continue to face the consequences of their actions, former VP Kamala Harris says the Democrats are “doing the right thing” in shutting down the government.</p>



<p>Senate Democrats have blocked a stopgap bill from advancing 10 times in an effort to extend Affordable Care Act premium subsidies. The flawed and failed candidate made the comment in an interview published Oct. 18 by The Associated Press.</p>



<p>She blamed her counterparts over the federal funding lapse, which has spanned into its 18th day, as back pay for furloughed federal workers is threatened, and the economy begins to feel a negative impact from the shuttering.</p>



<p>The Trump administration is actively taking steps to redistribute funds to ensure the military gets paychecks during the shutdown. FBI agents and some Department of Homeland Security employees are expected to receive paychecks as well.</p>



<p>“The Republicans control the House. They control the Senate. They control the White House,” Harris told AP. “They are in charge, and they are responsible for the shutdown.”</p>



<p>The former VP also told the AP that she is “the leader of the Democratic Party” and that she “remains in contact” with former colleagues on Capitol Hill.</p>



<p>Amid closures, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is preparing to bring a full-year spending bill for the Pentagon to the floor as the shutdown extends to the three-week mark.</p>



<p>In another interview, Harris, who has surfaced to push her new book, took a swipe at her onetime boss, Joe Biden, calling his ;2021 decision to exclude Elon Musk ;from a White House electric vehicle event a “big mistake” — comments that came as the 82-year-old former president undergoes radiation therapy for prostate cancer.</p>



<p>Harris, who appeared Tuesday at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington, D.C., said she believed the snub — which was widely seen as a political favor to organized labor — ;was mishandled and had lasting repercussions.</p>



<p>“I write in the book that I thought it was a big mistake to not invite Elon Musk when we did a big EV event,” Harris ;told Fortune Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell.</p>



<p>Harris&#8217;s comments to Shontell mirrored a passage from the book in which she wrote that the Biden administration’s move not to include Tesla was a mistake and that it appeared to alienate Musk, who later became one of current President Donald Trump’s top financial backers.</p>



<p>&#8220;Musk never forgave it,&#8221; she wrote.</p>



<p>Musk later endorsed Trump in the 2024 election and contributed roughly $300 million toward Republican campaign efforts.</p>



<p>The former vice president has made numerous public appearances in recent weeks to promote the release of her memoir, “107 Days,” in which she ;criticized Biden for his “recklessness” ;in running for re-election despite his declining health.</p>

Harris Says Democrats Are Doing the Right Thing in Shutdown
