Tag: #TrumpShutDown

In a West Wing in Transition, Trump Tries to Stand Firm on the Shutdown

WASHINGTON — President Trump has insisted that he is not going to compromise with Democrats to end the government shutdown, and that he is comfortable in his unbendable position. But privately, it’s sometimes a different story.

“We are getting crushed!” Mr. Trump told his acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, after watching some recent coverage of the shutdown, according to one person familiar with the conversation. “Why can’t we get a deal?”

The president is confronted by a divided and partially shuttered government with an untested staff that has undergone yet another shake-up. Polls show that most Americans blame him for the government shutdown, and his advisers are warning him of its negative effects on the economy. And as the shutdown enters its 27th day on Thursday with no end in sight, most of his top aides would like him to find a way out.

View the complete January 16 article by Maggie Haberman and Annie Karni on The New York Times website here.

The shutdown will harm the health and safety of Americans, even after it’s long over

With the U.S. federal government shutdown now the longest in history, it’s important to understand what a shutdown means for the health and safety of Americans.

The good news is that in the short run, the consequences are relatively few. But, as a researcher who studies natural disaster planning, I believe that Americans should be worried about the federal government’s long-term ability to ensure good public health and protect the public from disasters.

As the shutdown draws on, it increasingly weakens the government’s ability to protect Americans down the road, long after federal workers are allowed to go back to work. Many of these effects are largely invisible and may feel intangible because they don’t currently affect specific individuals.

View the complete January 15 article by Morten Wendelbo on The Conversation website here.

Shutdown’s Economic Damage Starts to Pile Up, Threatening an End to Growth

Federal workers, contractors and supporters demanding the reopening of the government last week. The White House estimated on Tuesday that the shutdown was causing twice as much economic damage as previously projected.CreditCreditLeigh Vogel for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — The partial government shutdown is inflicting far greater damage on the United States economy than previously estimated, the White House acknowledged on Tuesday, as President Trump’s economists doubled projections of how much economic growth is being lost each week the standoff with Democrats continues.

The revised estimates from the Council of Economic Advisers show that the shutdown, now in its fourth week, is beginning to have real economic consequences. The analysis, and other projections from outside the White House, suggests that the shutdown has already weighed significantly on growth and could ultimately push the United States economy into a contraction.

While Vice President Mike Pence previously played down the shutdown’s effects amid a “roaring” economy, White House officials are now cautioning Mr. Trump about the toll it could take on a sustained economic expansion. Mr. Trump, who has hitched his political success to the economy, also faces other economic headwinds, including slowing global growth, a trade war with China and the waning effects of a $1.5 trillion tax cut.

View the complete January 15 article by Jim Tankersley on The New York Times website here.

The Daily 202: ‘I can relate.’ Trump struggles to show he feels your pain as the shutdown drags on.

President Trump credited his administration’s policies for the price of gas during the American Farm Bureau Federation’s convention in New Orleans on Jan. 14. (The Washington Post)

THE BIG IDEA: President Trump was confused Monday morning about which city he was flying to. “Getting ready to address the Farm Convention today in Nashville, Tennessee,” he tweeted. “Love our farmers, love Tennessee – a great combination! See you in a little while.”

The president was flying to see farmers, all right, but they were in New Orleans. So Trump deleted the tweet and posted another. “I will try and match the great game played yesterday by the New Orleans Saints and their incredible QB, Drew Brees,” he wrote, playing to the local crowd. “People here are very excited by the team.”

This is the kind of mistake rock stars and politicians make from time to time when they’re on tour and the cities they’re visiting start to blend and blur together. It’s a dizzying experience few everyday Americans have. Presidents, though, aren’t regular people.

View the complete January 15 article by James Hohmann with Joanie Greve on The Washington Post website here.

DAY 27: Trump Shutdown Costs Workers $5,000 In Wages, Pushes Economy Closer To A Recession

It’s day 27 of the Trump Shutdown, and hundreds of thousands of workers have already lost thousands of dollars in wages. Meanwhile, the economic costs of Trump’s government shutdown continue to get worse.

The Trump Shutdown has already cost hundreds of thousands of workers more than $5,000 in wages on average.

New York Times: “The 800,000 federal workers who haven’t been paid during the government shutdown have each missed more than $5,000 in wages on average so far, according to a New York Times analysis. Combined, that’s more than $200 million per workday.”

The Trump Shutdown is pushing the economy closer to a recession.

Politico: “The partial government shutdown was supposed to be a brief non-event for the economy. Now it’s starting to look like a serious crisis that could nudge the U.S. toward recession and threaten President Donald Trump’s economic message during his reelection campaign.” Continue reading “DAY 27: Trump Shutdown Costs Workers $5,000 In Wages, Pushes Economy Closer To A Recession”

Trump administration recalls tens of thousands of federal workers as it seeks to blunt shutdown’s impact

The Internal Revenue Service Building in Washington Credit: Andrew Harnik, AP Photo

The Trump administration on Tuesday said it is calling back tens of thousands of federal workers to fulfill key government tasks, including disbursing tax refunds, overseeing flight safety and inspecting the nation’s food and drug supply, as it seeks to blunt the impact of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

The nearly 50,000 furloughed federal employees are being sent back to work without pay – part of a group of about 800,000 federal workers who aren’t receiving paychecks during the shutdown, which affects dozens of federal agencies large and small. A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a bid by unions representing air traffic controllers and other federal workers to force the government to pay them if they are required to work.

The efforts by the Trump administration to keep the government operating during the partial shutdown came as the White House and Congress made no progress toward resolving their underlying dispute.

View the complete January 15 article by Jeff Stein on The Washington Post website here.

Democrats turn down White House invitation for shutdown talks

No Democrats attended a lunch on Tuesday with President Trump designed to reach an agreement to end the government shutdown and fund a border wall, as the president’s attempt to force leaders back to the negotiating table fell flat.

Trump invited several moderate House Democrats to the White House in an effort to undermine Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has refused to grant Trump his demand for $5.7 billion in wall funding. But the group turned down the invitation.

“Today, the president offered both Democrats and Republicans the chance to meet for lunch at the White House. Unfortunately, no Democrats will attend,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement ahead of the meeting.

View the complete January 15 article by Jordan Fabian and Scott Wong on The Hill website here.

‘I’ve Been Here All Weekend’: A Shut-in President Weathers the Shutdown

President Trump left the White House for a few hours on Monday to speak at the annual American Farm Bureau Federation convention in Louisiana.Credit: Sarah Silbiger, The New York Times

WASHINGTON — As he prepared to finally emerge from the White House on Monday morning, after days of complaining that he had been cooped up there waiting for Democrats to negotiate with him to end a 24-day government shutdown, President Trump momentarily seemed to forget where he was headed.

“Getting ready to address the Farm Convention today in Nashville, Tennessee,” the president said in a Twitter message. “See you in a little while.”

Farmers in Tennessee would have to wait: Mr. Trump was actually scheduled to visit an agricultural conference in Louisiana on Monday. And when he did, he was on the ground for little more than two hours before flying back to the White House.

View the complete January 14 article by Katie Rogers on The Washington Post website here.

House will vote this week on two stopgap funding bills to end shutdown

Credit: Susan Walsh, AP Photo.

The House this week will vote on two stopgap spending bills to reopen all closed government agencies, Democrats announced Monday.

The Democrats have introduced two continuing resolutions with varying lengths. One, which would reopen the government through Feb. 1, will be voted under suspension of the rules on Tuesday, the fast-track procedural move that requires two-thirds support for passage.

The other would open government through Feb. 28 and will be brought to the floor under a rule on Thursday.

Republicans Are Out Of Touch With Furloughed Workers

Republicans are clueless when it comes to furloughed workers, saying that government workers don’t mind being furloughed and they’re basically on vacation. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of workers missed their first paycheck and do not know when their next paycheck will come.

Trump’s top economic adviser said hundreds of thousands of workers furloughed without pay were basically getting free vacation.

Kevin Hassett: “Workers are furloughed, and right now, it’s about 25 percent of government workers are furloughed, which means that they are not allowed to go to work.  But then, when the shutdown ends, they go back to work and they get their back pay. A huge share of government workers were going to take vacation days, say, between Christmas and New Year’s. And then we have a shutdown, and so they can’t go to work, and so then they have the vacation, but they don’t have to use their vacation days.  And then they come back, and then they get their back pay. Then they’re — in some sense, they’re better off.”

Trump’s former campaign adviser wrote off workers not getting paid, saying “it’s for time they’re not even going to the office.”

Barry Bennett: “‘It’s inconvenient that they’re not getting paid,’ Barry Bennett, a former Trump campaign adviser, said of the furloughed workers. ‘But it’s for time they’re not even going into the office.’” Continue reading “Republicans Are Out Of Touch With Furloughed Workers”