The shutdown might be over for now, but thousands of Americans are still feeling the effects of it. For 35 days, Donald Trump remained unmoved; asserting he was willing to "stay out for a long time," until Congress approved funding his border wall.
The shutdown affected more than 800,000 federal workers in different departments including the Department of Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, State, Transportation and Treasury. In fact, the Food and Drug Administration furloughed about 40 percent of its staff.
Federal workers and contractors are still struggling to make ends meet and taking side jobs, looking for food donations and other online fundraising, like GoFundMe pages since the shutdown began on Dec. 21. It has also done irreparable damage to our national parks, safety net, and our democratic institutions.
While the Trump and McConnell shutdown is temporarily over, contact members of Congress to let them know that this is no way to govern. Americans will not allow for Republicans to hold hostage federal workers and our democratic institutions. It is time to permanently end the shutdown, put federal workers and contractors back to work for the pay they deserve, and protect our natural resources.
To find U.S. Representatives, please visit www.house.gov. To find U.S. Senators, please visit www.senate.gov.
