Of all the things President Trump has said since the shutdown started, his comments over the weekend about the plight of Federal workers impacted by the shutdown are perhaps the worst of all:
President Trump said Saturday that he wants to end the partial government shutdown that is stretching into its third week while reiterating his claim that most of the federal workers being furloughed or forced to work without pay are Democrats.
“I don’t care that most of the workers not getting paid are Democrats, I want to stop the Shutdown as soon as we are in agreement on Strong Border Security!” the president tweeted. “I am in the White House ready to go, where are the Dems?”
This was the second time that the President had made the claim that most of the Federal workers impacted by the shutdown are Democrats, the first came during the holiday break:
President Trump early Thursday resumed his feud with Democrats on Capitol Hill over funding for a border wall, claiming that most of the hundreds of thousands of federal employees furloughed or forced to work without pay due to a partial government shutdown are Democrats.
“Have the Democrats finally realized that we desperately need Border Security and a Wall on the Southern Border. Need to stop Drugs, Human Trafficking, Gang Members & Criminals from coming into our Country,” he tweeted.
“Do the Dems realize that most of the people not getting paid are Democrats?” he added.
The president did not provide an explanation for his claim.
Here are the Presidents tweets on the issue:
Have the Democrats finally realized that we desperately need Border Security and a Wall on the Southern Border. Need to stop Drugs, Human Trafficking,Gang Members & Criminals from coming into our Country. Do the Dems realize that most of the people not getting paid are Democrats?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 27, 2018
I don’t care that most of the workers not getting paid are Democrats, I want to stop the Shutdown as soon as we are in agreement on Strong Border Security! I am in the White House ready to go, where are the Dems?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2019
There is, of course, no support for the President’s claim that most of the Federal workers impacted by the shutdown are Democrats, but even if that were proven to be true, it’s entirely irrelevant. This isn’t about benefiting one party or the other, or at least it shouldn’t be. This is about doing what’s best for the country as a whole, and about making sure that the Federal workers, whether they are furloughed or being forced to work without pay for the foreseeable future, meaning that most of them are facing the prospect of having rent, mortgage, and other bills coming due that they are unable to pay due to the fact that they aren’t getting paid. Asked about that during a Rose Garden appearance on Friday, the President claimed, without any evidence, that he was sure that creditors would give a break to Federal workers caught up in this conundrum, claiming that as a landlord he has done that many times in the past. Whether or not that’s true, the President’s word on this issue is hardly dispositive.
In reality, of course, it’s unlikely that Trump actually cares much about Federal employees one way or the other. They are pawns in his efforts to push the foolish idea of his border wall just as much as anyone else. In the meantime, we’re starting to see stories about the real-world impact that the shutdown is having both on Federal workers and the public as a whole. This includes closed museums in Washington D.C., Federal workers who are finding themselves forced to apply for unemployment compensation as the shutdown drags on, married couples in Washington, D.C. being unable to get marriage licenses since the District’s budget is tied up in the shutdown, and Federal Courts facing a funding shortfall in coming days as the efforts to rely on money from fines and other sources comes to an end. The shutdown is also having an impact outside the Federal Government as Federal contractors and businesses that rely on Federal workers are starting to feel the pinch. Finally, people who rely on food stamps and early tax filers looking to get their refunds from the Internal Revenue Service are likely to be impacted as the shutdown goes on. The longer the shutdown goes on, the wider the impact will become. And the President doesn’t care.
