(KRON) -- Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Livermore) is urging Washington to reopen the government following its shutdown on Wednesday.

Democrats are pushing back against the shutdown, demanding healthcare subsidies to prevent insurance costs from skyrocketing. Swalwell claims the shutdown is a tactic to delay releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files.

"In some ways you can call this an Epstein Shutdown because we had many, many months to avoid the shut down by negotiating with Republicans to avoid it," said Swalwell at a press conference Wednesday.

Swalwell stated, "But what did Republicans do? During the summer, something I’ve not seen in my 13 years in Washington, they ended the summer early by two weeks to send us home to avoid votes on releasing the Epstein files."

Swalwell emphasized the real co

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