Tag: #TrumpShutDown

White House seeks list of programs that would be hurt if shutdown lasts into March

White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, in the East Room of the White House on Jan. 14. Credit: Joshua Roberts, Reuters

White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney has pressed agency leaders to provide him with a list of the highest-impact programs that will be jeopardized if the shutdown continues into March and April, people familiar with the directive said.

Mulvaney wants the list no later than Friday, these people said, and it’s the firmest evidence to date that the White House is preparing for a lengthy funding lapse that could have snowballing consequences for the economy and government services.

The request is the first known request from a top White House official for a broad accounting of the spreading impact of the shutdown, which has entered its fifth week and is the longest in U.S. history. So far, top White House officials have been particularly focused on lengthening wait times at airport security, but not the sprawling interruption of programs elsewhere in the government.

View the complete January 23 article by Damian Paletta and Juliet Eilperin on The Washington Post website here.

Senate blocks White House-backed bill to end shutdown

Senate Democrats blocked a White House–backed plan to end the 34-day partial shutdown, turning it down in a 50-47 vote on Thursday.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) joined with Republicans to advance the measure, but it fell short of the 60 votes needed to defeat a filibuster.

In an unexpected development, GOP Sens. Mike Lee (Utah) and Tom Cotton (Ark.) voted against Trump’s plan. Lee is considered a fiscal hawk, and Cotton is one of the Senate’s most conservative members on immigration.

View the complete January 24 article by Jordain Carney on The Hill website here.

Pelosi tells Trump no State of the Union on Tuesday

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Wednesday she will block President Trump from delivering the State of the Union address in the House chamber until the government reopens, rejecting the president’s demand to deliver the speech on Jan. 29.

In a letter to Trump, Pelosi said she would not move forward with the legislative steps needed for the address to take place.

“The House of Representatives will not consider a concurrent resolution authorizing the president’s State of the Union address in the House chamber until government has opened,” she wrote.

View the complete January 23 article by Jordan Fabian on The Hill website here.

The case for ending shutdowns, once and for all

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) criticized on Jan. 22 President Trump’s new proposal to end the partial government shutdown. (The Washington Post)

The record-long impasse — along with the failures of past efforts — makes a strong argument for passing a bill that would take the option off the table.

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers will soon go without their second paycheck this month, as the 32-day shutdown drags on with no end in sight. But if there’s a silver lining for them, it might be this: The messier this gets, the more momentum there could be for a mechanism to effectively outlaw future shutdowns.

Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) on Tuesday introduced a bill called the Stop STUPIDITY Act. In the event of a lapse in government funding, the act would reinstate funding levels from the previous fiscal year — except for Congress and the office of the president, which would not receive funding until they reached an agreement.

Warner’s Republican colleague Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) reintroduced his own proposal last week. Rather than shut down the government in the absence of a budget, it would institute an across-the-board 1 percent funding cut for all agencies and would cut another 1 percent every 90 days that no agreement is reached.

View the complete January 23 article by Aaron Blake on the The Washington Post website.

DAY 34: Trump Shutdown Makes Americans Less Safe

Now in day 34, warnings of national security risks arising from the Trump Shutdown continue to grow. Meanwhile, American taxpayers might not get their tax refunds on time, and our economy is expected to experience long-term damage because of the shutdown. Trump seems unconcerned, telling Americans just yesterday the shutdown “will go on for a while.” Here’s the latest:

Air traffic controllers, pilots, and flight attendants expressed serious concerns over the incalculable security risk of the Trump Shutdown.

NATCA, ALPA, AFA Statement: “We have a growing concern for the safety and security of our members, our airlines, and the traveling public due to the government shutdown. This is already the longest government shutdown in the history of the United States and there is no end in sight. In our risk averse industry, we cannot even calculate the level of risk currently at play, nor predict the point at which the entire system will break. It is unprecedented.

Former secretaries of Homeland Security, including John Kelly, called on Trump to end his shutdown over national security concerns.

CNN: “Former White House chief of staff John Kelly and the other four former secretaries of homeland security sent President Donald Trump and Congress a letter Wednesday calling for full department funding and an end to the monthlong partial government shutdown. … In their letter Wednesday, the former secretaries cited the historical precedent of Congress prioritizing funding agencies such as the Department of Defense as a matter of national security.” Continue reading “DAY 34: Trump Shutdown Makes Americans Less Safe”

OUT OF TOUCH: Trump Admin Doesn’t Understand Why Furloughed Workers Can’t Afford To Eat

Trump and his White House are extremely out of touch with the workers whose paychecks they are holding hostage.

Wilbur Ross said he doesn’t “really quite understand” why workers are needing to go to food banks during the Trump Shutdown.

Wilbur Ross: “I know there are and I don’t really quite understand why. Because as I mentioned before, the obligations that they would undertake, say borrowing from a bank or a credit union, are in effect federally guaranteed.”

Wilbur Ross suggested it wouldn’t be a big deal if 800,000 workers never got their paychecks because the GDP impact was not a “gigantic number overall.”

Wilbur Ross: “You’re talking about 800,000 workers. And while I feel sorry for the individuals that have hardship cases, 800,000 workers, if they never got their pay – which is not the case, they will eventually get it – but if they never got it, you’re talking about a third of a percent on our GDP. So it’s not like it’s a gigantic number overall.” Continue reading “OUT OF TOUCH: Trump Admin Doesn’t Understand Why Furloughed Workers Can’t Afford To Eat”

Trump brags about poll showing most Americans will reject him in 2020

Credit: Evan Vuccil, AP Photo

In the poll, 57 percent of registered voters said they would ‘definitely vote against’ Trump in 2020.

During his usual morning Twitter rant, Trump decided to brag about his relatively high approval rating among Latinos in a new national poll. But awkwardly for Trump, the same Marist/NPR/PBS poll also shows that most Americans “definitely” plan to vote against him in 2020.

Trump tweeted, “Marist/NPR/PBS Poll shows President Trump’s approval rating among Latinos going to 50%, an increase in one year of 19%. Thank you, working hard!”

Approval doesn’t translate into votes, however. Trump failed to mention that the same poll shows only 30 percent of registered voters said they would “definitely vote for President Trump” in 2020 — and a whopping 57 percent of voters said they would “definitely vote against him.”

View the complete January 22 article by Dan Desai Martin on the ShareBlue website here.

‘Knock them in the teeth.’ How Trump turns crises into leverage.

President Trump walks to a helicopter on the South Lawn of the White House on Jan. 14, the 24th day of the partial government shutdown, which by then had already become the longest in U.S. history. Credit: Jabin Botsford, The Washington Post

The 800,000 federal workers who are expected to miss their second paycheck in the coming days are the most extreme example yet of a negotiating tactic President Trump has used repeatedly since taking office.

He creates — or threatens to create — a calamity, and then insists he will address the problem only if his adversary capitulates to a separate demand.

Trump has described this approach as creating leverage and negotiating, but Democrats and other opponents have said it amounts to “hostage taking.”

View the complete January 22 article by Damian Paletta and Josh Dawsey on The Washington Post website here.

WORKERS SPEAK OUT: ‘We’re Being Held Hostage’

The Trump Shutdown is in its 33rd day, and hundreds of thousands of workers still don’t know when their next paycheck will come. Trump’s temper tantrum has forced workers to take on second jobs just to pay their bills, and wait in long lines at food banks just to feed their children. The Trump Shutdown has to end.

Here are real stories of Americans hurt by the Trump Shutdown:

“We’re being held hostage, but we are being hurt, tremendously hurt, through no fault of our own. That hurts. It really hurts.” – Federal worker

Continue reading “WORKERS SPEAK OUT: ‘We’re Being Held Hostage’”

Republicans Have No Good Reason To Continue The Trump Shutdown

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced he would finally hold votes tomorrow on two measures: Trump’s “compromise” proposal, and a House-passed package that includes a continuing resolution.

One measure is a bipartisan, common sense plan to reopen the government; the other is just another political stunt. Senate Republicans have already supported the House-passed measure, so they have no excuse not to join Democrats in ending the Trump Shutdown.

The Senate will have a chance to vote on a clean proposal to reopen the government tomorrow.

CNN: “The other vote will be on House-passed legislation backed by Democrats to reopen the government without providing new funding for the wall.” Continue reading “Republicans Have No Good Reason To Continue The Trump Shutdown”