Suozzi defends vote to reopen government without health deal, says situation 'was becoming untenable'

WASHINGTON — Long Island Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi has for years operated as a guy in the middle, extolling bipartisan approaches in a world of political extremes.

On Thursday, he was defending that approach, after casting one of only six Democratic House votes in favor of a funding deal that ended the 43-day government shutdown. Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) had previously voted against a Republican bill to fund and keep government open as an Oct. 1 deadline for doing so approached.

Suozzi’s vote, turns out, wasn’t pivotal as the bill passed 222-209. But he says he made his decision because the shutdown "was becoming untenable, children were not being fed," and "people were going without pay," as President Donald Trump was exerting his leverage to force Democrats to fold.

But also, Suozzi said, he made his decision based on representations he’d received from some House Republicans that they’d work with him after government reopened on an extension of Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, set to expire at the end of the year.

Still, his decision to support the bill — without the tax credits — was a bridge too far for some of his supporters.

"We had been reaching out to his office to say, 'no!' — he didn’t need to vote for it," said Rachel Klein, 46, of Plainview, head of the advocacy group, Engage Long Island, which campaigned for him in 2024. "But we’re learning more and more that we can’t, you know, count on him to fight for us, which is really disappointing."

Suozzi stood by his decision in an interview Thursday, and added, "Personally, I’m getting a lot of applause, a lot of texts."

"I’m very comfortable with both of my votes," he added.

Suozzi says he takes Republicans at their word that they will work on a solution to the expiration of the tax credits. But already, in fact, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has made clear he is making no commitment on such a vote.

"Everyone knows that I have been preaching bipartisanship for years," Suozzi said, adding he’s been consistent in that throughout his career, which has included two unsuccessful runs for governor. But in the interview, he also acknowledged, "Sometimes it’s hard to be in the middle. You’re in the middle of the road, sometimes you get run over."

"But people want us to get work done," Suozzi added, instead of fighting. "Sometimes I have great success. Sometimes I don’t."

Positioning for midterms

For some political analysts, this also is a sign that Suozzi is calibrating for his purplish district heading into next year’s midterm congressional elections.

Suozzi points out that he is a Democrat representing a district that Trump won in 2024, and some people who voted for him backed Trump, and others voted for Kamala Harris.

"I am fighting for the people I represent," he said.

Jacob Rubashkin, deputy editor of the non-partisan political handicapper Inside Elections, added, "It's hard to imagine next year's political environment being worse for Long Island Democrats than last year, when Suozzi won by a much more narrow margin than expected, or in 2022, when Democrats of course lost this seat."

"It's helpful to be seen crossing the aisle to reopen the government even if he rejected the same proposal a month ago," Rubashkin said.

Klein, from Engage Long Island, asserted the priority of Trump and Republicans right now is to strip health care away from millions of American. Even if they do agree to negotiate on the ACA subsidies, she said, it’s unclear what they’ll want to take away, or what restrictions they will add. 

"So I was disappointed and upset," she said about Suozzi’s decision to vote for the bill without the subsidies. "Yeah, it sounds like Charlie Brown with the football."