Activism
Robert Weissman ... President, Public Citizen

Hours from now, President Donald Trump will be responsible for the longest government shutdown in our nation's history.

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Trump shutdown: longest in history Inbox x Robert Weissman, Public Citizen robert@citizen.org via mail.salsalabs.net 1:52 PM (2 hours ago) to me Update from Public Citizen Peter, Hours from now, President Donald Trump will be responsible for the longest government shutdown in our nation's history. And we’re suffering through it for one reason only: Trump saw conservative commentators on Fox News call him weak because he agreed last year to the funding deal that passed the Senate unanimously — without funding for the idiotic, wasteful and racist border wall. So Trump backed out of the government funding deal and threw the country into needless turmoil. The impacts are real and mounting. Since the start of the shutdown: 800,000 federal workers have been furloughed or continue to work without pay. (Hit even worse are an unknown number of contract workers who will never be paid for the period of the shutdown). Essential consumer, worker, health and safety protections enforced by key agencies are going unenforced. Corporate lawbreakers are going unpunished. Food safety, auto and airplane inspections are being postponed. Discrimination charges are going uninvestigated. Consumer complaints are going unreceived. Government programs to support low-income renters and to provide food stamps are on hold or nearly out of money. Trump is creating his own national emergency. And though it feels like there’s no way out of this crisis — where our health and safety are at risk and thousands of workers are left worrying about mortgages, rent, credit card debt, paying for food and child care — there is a way out: Republican senators must stand up for common sense and agree to the budget arrangement they voted to pass just last month. If the Senate simply votes on the funding legislation, the government can reopen. Email your GOP senator(s) now to stop the needless shutdown. Our government matters, and it is past time to get it back to work. Onward, Robert Weissman President, Public Citizen