At the press briefing today, Trump’s top economic advisor once again wrote off the concerns of workers hurt by the Trump Shutdown, lied about the significant damage it did to the economy, and suggested that Trump could shut down the government again.
Larry Kudlow said “I honestly don’t know” if the White House supports back pay for contractors.
REALITY: Federal contractors across the country have been devastated by the effects of the Trump Shutdown.
“The estimate of what I’ve lost financially due to the shutdown is upwards of $3,500. The anxiety, sleeplessness and depression make it feel like much more.” – Federal contractor
“While I love being a contractor, I hate the uncertainty that’s come with it. This happened to us last year on a smaller scale, but this year’s shutdown has me concerned for my future and welfare.” – Federal contractor
“We were scraping pennies and nickels together one day to get the baby a Happy Meal. It’s just that bad.” – Federal contractor
Larry Kudlow: “The switch goes back on. No permanent damage to the economy.”
REALITY: Federal workers are struggling from the lasting impacts of the shutdown – which permanently cost the economy $3 billion.
Federal worker who had to pay a 10% penalty to tap into his retirement funds during the shutdown: “It pretty much just pushes my family back.”
“I’m a little nervous after missing 30 plus days… It’s been almost a month since we’ve gotten paid.” – Federal worker
“Morale is slowly decreasing every day. It’s really hard for controllers to maintain 100 percent awareness when they’re thinking about mortgage payments and child care payments.” – Federal worker
Larry Kudlow on Trump shutting down the government again in three weeks: “We’ll see what happens.”
REALITY: Workers still reeling from the 35-day Trump Shutdown are stressed about Trump shutting the government down again.
“They’re throwing us a rope. They’ll throw us that rope, we’ll catch it, and in a few weeks, they’re just going to pull it from us again.” – Federal worker
“That just means that we’ll be fighting again in three weeks for the same thing.” – Federal worker
“It feels like we are still hostages. I’m just so happy to be going back to work and to be able to get on with our lives because I need our health insurance to fill these prescriptions. But who knows if this will all happen again in three weeks.” – Federal contractor