With government funding running dry, Rep. Eric Sorensen is among a long list of Democrats and Republicans trying to quickly shape the narrative around the first government shutdown in more than six years.
A spending bill to keep the government open, known as a continuing resolution with no add-ons, passed in the U.S. House of Representatives, but was five votes short of passage in the Senate on Wednesday, triggering the shutdown at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.
Sorensen and other congressional Democrats are blocking the bill over health care cuts, among other issues.
“Families are struggling under rising costs, communities can’t access the services they need and federal workers like TSA and federal law enforcement and social security workers are left to go without paychecks even though they will continue to serve the public,” said Sorensen, who represents the 17th Congressional District that includes parts of Bloomington-Normal
“Democrats put forth a plan to keep the government open while reversing Republican’s defunding of health care.”
Sorensen said Republicans are pushing a false narrative of immigrants in the country illegally receiving taxpayer funded health care that Democrats want to continue.
“So, they’re trying to come up with some spin, because they can’t take away from the fact that Donald Trump controls the House [of Rrepresentatives], Donald Trump controls the Senate, and he sits in the White House. It’s on him,” said Sorensen.
No impact on CIRA
The impacts in McLean County are uneven, as it is in most of the country. One area of change is at the Central Illinois Regional Airport [CIRA], where essential workers must continue operating without being paid.
Sorensen said TSA agents and other airport personnel will not waiver despite the shutdown.
“Understand those agents are still going to work as hard as they’ve ever worked to make sure our skies are safe,” he said. “So, my plea to folks back home is when you’re going through that line and you’re stressed out, give an extra thank- you to those TSA agents that are working without pay.”
CIRA provided a statement to WGLT that confirmed operations are not expected to face any changes.
"We do not anticipate any operational changes stemming from the government shutdown at the Central Illinois Regional Airport. All [TSA] screening continues as normal although those officers will not be paid until the shutdown is over,” said Marketing and Communications Manager Melissa Beaver.
“TSA personnel will be paid retroactively. The air traffic controllers will also continue to work. They are contracted with the airport through a private firm, who pays them under the Federal Aviation Administration."
Sorensen also noted President Trump’s threats about sending Reduction in Force notices to agencies and departments of the U.S. government, including TSA and airport personnel, asking " what happens if Donald Trump goes through with that threat of cutting services? We’ve got to make sure that that doesn’t happen, and for that reason I’m hoping that my Republican colleagues will get here to Washington this week and let’s get that job done.”
Other areas subject to change is research funding to Illinois State University and other colleges, and community programs like food assistance for Women, Infants and Children [WIC] that is expected to be largely unaffected, said McLean County Health Department spokesperson Marianne Manko.
“While other states might face different circumstances, [at] Illinois WIC it’s presently business as usual with no planned changes at this time,” Manko said in a statement to WGLT.
However, the Illinois Public Health Association said the program’s future is in doubt since states have not yet received fiscal year 2026 funding for the program.
The McLean County Soil and Water Conservation District [SWCD] announced the USDA Service Center in Normal will be closed until further notice as of Oct. 1 due to the government shutdown. The conservation district will no longer have access to the building and can only be reached by email at mcleancountyswcd@gmail.com.
Blame game
As in other government shutdowns, elected members of both parties are rushing to blame the other for the stalemate. Sorensen said Democrats should not be blamed because of President Trump and Republicans controlling both the House and Senate.
“A shutdown is not because of Democrats, because we’re in the minority here,” he said. “They wanted to do it my way or the highway and I think they’re realizing the hard way that when you play partisan politics like this you lose.”
He said members across the aisle are not willing to put in the work on behalf of their constituents, noting that most Republican representatives left Washington and are not in session.
“Yesterday on the House floor, the Republicans, they gaveled in, we listened to a prayer by the reverend, we said the pledge of allegiance and the speaker gaveled it down and closed it and shut the lights off,” Sorensen said. “We had 200-plus Democrats on our side of the aisle ready to do the work and you had zero Republicans on the other side. Nobody showed up to do the work.”
Sorensen admitted Democrats did have a chance to get the job done without shutting down the government via the continuing resolution, as was used by the party during the Biden administration. Sorensen said he has been against the resolutions since before the party decided to take a stronger stand.
“I voted no in March before they decided to cut Medicaid. I voted no before they decided to cut [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] benefits, so no it is so much more worse than my no vote back in March,” he said. “Without an extension of the [Affordable Care Act] subsidies themselves, premiums could nearly double. That’s a non-starter for me.”
Sorensen said the blame for the shutdown is entirely on the Republican delegation and they should have worked with Democrats to form a bipartisan bill.
Republican Rep. Darin LaHood, who represents parts of Bloomington-Normal and Peoria in the 16th Congressional District, voted for the original spending bill. On his Facebook page, LaHood blames Democrats for putting services at risk in the shutdown.
