Take a break from Trump and hear from regular Americans about the real state of our Union. Watch Scott Chittock, a Lordstown General Motors worker, talk about how hard it’s going to be to get by after losing his job.
“Everybody works at GM, so without that, it’s gonna be really tough.” – GM Lordstown worker Scott Chittock
An internal email sent to National Park Service (NPS) staff reveals for the first time that the parks lost between $10 million and $11 million during the 35-day partial government shutdown, which left a number of popular parks open but furloughed most rangers and staff.
The email strongly suggests the shutdown and its aftermath had a detrimental effect on the morale of park staff, and that lawyers are looking into whether it was legal for the Department of Interior to use “rec fees” to pay for maintenance and trash collection while parks such as Joshua Tree in California were kept open.
Parks resumed operations this past week, and the email makes clear the Park Service is scrambling to keep up morale while catching up on lost time.
View the complete February 3 article by Miranda Green on The Hill website here.
Federal employment has long provided a pathway to the middle class for families of color, especially African American families. The 1960s saw a resurgence of federal employment for people of color. The reversal of former President Woodrow Wilson’s segregationist policies, the equal employment initiatives of the Johnson administration, and other important victories of the civil rights movement made holding a job with the federal government an opportunity to move into the middle class.
These jobs provided people of color with an opportunity to serve the country while receiving competitive pay and some measure of protection against racial discrimination. Today, people of color are almost 37 percent of federal executive branch employees. While they remain underrepresented in senior positions in the federal government, these jobs have helped countless families build wealth and gain access to the American dream. Continue reading “Trump’s Shutdown Threatened the American Dream, Especially for People of Color”
Trump’s comments today signaled that he wants to shut down the government again over his ineffective border wall. Trump isn’t even trying to reach a deal.
Trump said he doesn’t expect the bipartisan committee to reach a deal.
Trump: “I don’t expect much coming out of the committee.”
Trump wants to hold workers’ paychecks hostage as a negotiating tool.
Trump: “By having the shutdown, we’ve set the table…we’ve set the stage for what’s going to happen on the 15th of February.”
After holding workers’ paychecks hostage for 35 days, Trump made it clear that he has no interest in negotiating a bipartisan deal for effective border security and preventing another shutdown. Workers are already struggling to recover from the Trump Shutdown, the longest in our nation’s history, and now they have to worry that he is going to do it all over again.
Trump made it clear today that he has no interest in negotiating a bipartisan deal to prevent another government shutdown.
Trump: “Republicans on the Homeland Security Committee are wasting their time. Democrats, despite all of the evidence, proof and Caravans coming, are not going to give money to build the DESPERATELY needed WALL. I’ve got you covered. Wall is already being built, I don’t expect much help!”
It’s clear why workers, who are still struggling to recover from Trump’s 35 day shutdown, continue to stress over another Trump Shutdown.
“The thought of three weeks hanging over us. That’s when the stress builds up all over again.” – Federal worker
“I’m going to save every dollar I can until a permanent budget is passed.” – Federal worker
“I can’t rely on this for my family. I love what I do, but as long as this President feels that he can do this, I’m just fearful that will happen again for whatever reason he might come up with. Right now, it’s the wall. Next year, it may be something else he decides he wants money for.” – Federal contractor
“By the time we get our back pay and catch up on bills somewhat, we all may be back in the same boat. There won’t even be any time to save any emergency funds if we shut down on the fifteenth.” – 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
“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
Senate Republicans are signaling they will do just about anything to prevent a second shutdown after the White House was widely seen as badly losing the political fight over the closure that ended with President Trump’s retreat on Friday.
Republicans are in no mood to be dragged back into another partial closure in mid-February, the deadline to get a deal on spending for roughly a quarter of the government.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), modifying a well-known quote, told reporters Tuesday that “there certainly would be no education in the third kick of the mule.”
View the complete January 30 article by Jordain Carney on The Hill website here.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are exploring legislative options that would prevent a repeat of the record 35-day shutdown, and their proposed solutions are drawing interest and support from top congressional leaders.
Members of both parties have introduced bills that would automatically fund the government at existing levels if lawmakers can’t meet statutory budget deadlines.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) reportedly expressed interest in the idea during a columnist roundtable shortly before the shutdown ended Friday, while Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) endorsed the approach at a news conference in Manhattan.
View the complete January 29 article by Cristina Marcos on The Hill website here.
New polls show that Americans overwhelmingly oppose Trump shutting down the government again over his ineffective border wall. They blamed Trump for previously shutting down the government, and will blame him again.
Americans overwhelmingly oppose another government shutdown over Trump’s wall:
Only 31% of voters support another government shutdown over Trump’s wall, while nearly twice that many, 58%, oppose another shutdown.
A majority of Americans blame Trump for the shutdown, and would blame him again:
55% of voters blame Trump and Republicans for the shutdown.
54% of voters would blame Trump and congressional Republicans if the government shuts down again.
A majority of Americans don’t want Trump’s wall, and trust Democrats more than Trump on border security:
Americans trust Democrats more than Trump on border security 50 – 41%, including independent voters who trust Democrats more 50 – 37%.
Voters support 61 – 33% a bill that funds new border security measures, without funding Trump’s border wall.
Lawmakers in both parties are skeptical about President Trump’s chances of securing funding for his wall on the Mexican border after a 35-day partial government shutdown that bruised the White House’s political standing.
The deal reached last week gives Trump and Congress until Feb. 15 to reach a new deal to prevent another partial shutdown, and the president is demanding new legislation again that would fund his signature campaign issue.
Democrats seem unlikely to budget any money for a border wall, and even if they did, lawmakers say such a deal would likely require Trump to include significant immigration reforms, such as giving immigrants known as Dreamers a pathway to citizenship or permanent residency.
View the complete January 28 article by Alexander Bolton on The Hill website here.
