President Donald Trump recently claimed that he can relate to the strain experienced by federal workers living paycheck-to-paycheck. However, his efforts to prolong the current government shutdown—already the longest in U.S. history—suggest otherwise. In addition to furloughed federal workers, this cruel, manufactured crisis has added immeasurable uncertainty to already stressed low-wage workers and families, disproportionately harming low-income families with children, people with disabilities, and seniors.
Here are just five of the myriad ways that Trump’s shutdown is irresponsibly harming and holding low-income communities hostage.
1. The paychecks of federal workers, contractors, and support staff are being withheld
An estimated 800,000 federal employees—and hundreds of thousands more federal contractors and support staff—have missed paychecks since the shutdown began on December 22. Initially, more than 420,000employees were required to work without pay while another 380,000 had been sent home without pay. But now, nearly 50,000 of the latter group have been pulled back to work without pay at the president’s command. Federal government workers’ salaries run the gamut, with some making as little as $26,000 a year. The Center for American Progress has estimated that these employees, in aggregate, miss out on more than $2 billion per pay period. With President Trump and congressional Republicans still refusing to fund the government and the shutdown continuing for nearly four weeks, workers’ income shortfall continues to grow. While both houses of Congress have approved legislation that guarantees back pay to furloughed federal workers once the government reopens, the lapse in pay exacerbates financial hardship and uncertainty for many American families. Affected families are struggling to pay rent, dipping into savings, and cutting back on food.