Tag: Trump’s shutdown

Biden Campaign: Trump Is Pushing GOP Toward Shutdown

Buck Banks

“House Republicans are gleefully letting Donald Trump function as their chief political strategist at the expense of American families. Trump’s behavior is shameful, but unsurprising from someone who has demonstrated he couldn’t care less about the American people.”

— A spokesman for President Biden’s campaign hit House Republicans for heeding Donald Trump’s calls to dig in on a government shutdown if they don’t get “everything,” The Hill reports.

Voters Oppose Another Shutdown Over Wall, Against Emergency Declaration

Buck Banks

58%

A new Morning Consult poll finds just 31% of voters support shutting the government down again to force Congress to appropriate money for the wall, while nearly twice that many, 58%, oppose another shutdown. Meanwhile, President Trump has suggested that he could declare a “national emergency” to avert a shutdown but still build the wall — but that, too, is unpopular. A narrow, 51% majority opposes declaring an emergency, which is supported by 38%.

The Shutdown Cost $11 Billion

Buck Banks

$11 billion

“The federal government shutdown cost the economy $11 billion, according to a new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, reflecting lost output from federal workers, delayed government spending and reduced demand,” CNBC reports. “The report, which was released Monday, estimated a hit of $3 billion, or 0.1 percent, to economic activity during the fourth quarter of 2018. The impact was projected to be greater during the first quarter of 2019: $8 billion, or 0.2 percent of GDP.”

Unpaid IRS Workers Not Shoing Up to Work

Buck Banks

14,000

“At least 14,000 unpaid workers in the Internal Revenue Service division that includes tax processing and call centers did not show up for work this week despite orders to do so, according to two House aides, posing a challenge to the Trump administration’s ability to minimize the damage from the government shutdown,” the Washington Post reports. “The Trump administration ordered more than 30,000 employees back to work unpaid to prepare for tax filing season, which is set to begin next week. But of the 26,000 workers called back to the IRS division that includes the tax processing centers and call centers, about 9,000 workers could not be reached and about 5,000 more claimed a hardship exemption, IRS officials have told members of Congress.”