New Jersey governor-elect on government shutdown, healthcare costs and more

(CBS, KYMA) - Gov.-Elect Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about the ongoing government shutdown.

When asked if Gov.-Elect Sherrill, who is still currently a member of Congress, would support the Democratic Party's position of "blocking government funding until Obamacare subsidies are extended" given her new role as governor of a state hit hard by the government shutdown, she said:

"It's really important that we keep up that fight, because we see in the market, costs going up by 175% if the Republicans don't address this health care crisis. We know that there have already been huge cuts in the One Big, Beautiful Bill to people's access to health care. And you know, when we look at this crisis, so much of it is really imposed by Donald Trump. So there is money for him to put towards SNAP funding that he's refusing to do, even though courts are demanding it. Now he's kind of slow walking it, making it very difficult for states to do that illegally, and courts are holding him accountable. We see with air traffic control problem, some of this is because the administration hasn't moved quickly enough at Newark in some of the problems we had over the summer. So we're already down by 25%. Now, with this crisis going on because the President refuses to open up the government, we're seeing another 10% in flights being derailed, and we see continued late and delayed flights. So, it's time that the government- that the Trump administration, that Republicans in the House and the Senate, get serious about opening up government."

According to a CBS News poll, a majority of Americans are concerned that the shutdown is going to hurt the overall economy, prompting Brennan to ask Sherrill how she can justify the damage, and Sherrill said:

"It truly is hurting the economy, and you can't justify the damage, which is why the President and the Senate and Republican majority in the House need to get this government open, and they need to do so in a way that's going to stop punishing the American people. I think what we saw with this election is the American people, you know, really demanding that our federal government operate in a way that is going to stop punishing them economically. I'll tell you I ran on affordability, on the fact that I'm going to fight in Trenton to make sure we're cutting through red tape and permitting to drive down costs, but also that I'm going to continue to fight for Washington, to address things like the tariff program, which is raising costs and everything from a cup of coffee to groceries, to fight the 'One Big Beautiful Bill,' which is continuing to raise costs on education and innovation, housing, health care, to continue to fight this government shutdown so that we can really address health care needs here in the state.

Brennan followed up by asking Sherrill why there isn't a promise to hold a vote on healthcare subsidies enough for Democrats to vote to reopen the government, and Sherrill said:

"So we are working hard to address the concerns for the American people, and Republicans, again and again, are refusing to address that. So right now...part of how we get the government open and they should do it right now, I think we have seen what the promises that Republicans have made have been worth. What he needs to do is actually put the subsidies in. We can serve the American people, we can drive down health care costs, and that's really key."

During the interview, Brennan and Sherrill talked about the latter's focus on dealing with the energy prices in New Jersey.

According to Brennan, it is up 19% in New Jersey compared to the 6% nationwide, and Sherrill will declare a state of emergency once she takes office.

This prompted Brennan to ask Sherrill what the state of emergency means, and how will the prices quickly come down, to which the governor-elect said:

"So the state of emergency will freeze rate hikes, because there are some rate hikes that are set to come into play in the next several months, and I'm not going to allow those to be put on the back of the New Jersey rate payer, and we see that the can has been kicked down the road by too many people. So the utility companies have already come to the table to say, okay, let's negotiate those rate hikes. We have money that comes in through the BPU to defray the cost. But what's really going to also happen is, very quickly, I'm turning to adding a lot of power to our grid. Right now, PJM, that's our regional grid operator, has really screwed up the market for various reasons, and so every electron we produce in New Jersey will defray the cost of elect- of electricity we have to buy on the market. So that's why, immediately, I'm going to cut through red tape and permitting delays to get solar done. We're going to continue to build out battery storage, and then in the first budget, we will expand modernization of our natural gas facilities, and in the long term, nuclear."

To watch more of Brennan's interview with Sherrill, click here.