Grimm fends off attacks from left on government shutdown
Republican voted with his party
As the federal government shutdown began on Tuesday, US Rep. Michael Grimm, the lone Republican in New York City’s congressional delegation, was hit with sharp criticism from the left over his vote to keep the government running at the expense of the Affordable Care Act.
Grimm (R-C-Bay Ridge-Dyker Heights-Staten Island) joined fellow Republicans in voting for the bill on Monday. The bill was quickly rejected by the US Senate, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) saying that his members would not take up any measure that called for defunding the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
The dispute between the Republican controlled House and the Democratic majority in the senate led to the first shutdown of the federal government since the Clinton Administration, with both sides blaming each other for the morass. The shutdown began at midnight on Oct. 1.