Sen. Tina Smith, left, listened to TSA employee Celia Hahn, now working without pay. Credit: Leila Navidi, Star Tribune
A handful of federal employees joined Sen. Tina Smith at a news conference at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith sought to put a human face Friday on the effects of the partial shutdown of the federal government.
Flanked by a handful of federal employees, Smith held a news conference at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to denounce the political stalemate in Washington that has prevented passage of a federal budget for 21 days, causing many workers to miss their first paycheck this week.
“This shutdown is wasteful, it is unnecessary, and it is increasingly harmful to so many people,” said Smith, a Democrat. She said she’s heard from “dozens and dozens” of people whose lives have been disrupted by the shutdown.
View the complete January 11 article by Dan Browning on The Star Tribune website here.