Fed up with the White House’s inability to end the partial government shutdown, AFSCME, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and other unions are holding a rally on Thursday to demand that the government be reopened.
The march from the AFL-CIO headquarters to the White House will add to the louder chorus of those calling for 800,000 federal workers who won’t receive paychecks this week and whose bills are coming due to be treated with respect. Regard for government workers and the vital jobs they perform has been in short supply as President Donald Trump continues to put his demands for a border wall ahead of those who keep our communities running.
Among the many ways ordinary Americans are being affected by the shutdown, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides food stamps to nearly 38 million people, may run out of funding. Other essential programs like Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) are also in danger. So is the processing of tax returns for tens of millions of Americans because many IRS employees have been sent home. The White House’s move to force these workers to return to work without pay is being challenged in court.
This is already the second-longest federal government shutdown in our nation’s history. It’s long past time to reopen the government and stop putting politics before people.