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“God bless them. They’re working for free. They’re volunteering. But they do it because they believe government service is honorable and they believe in President Trump and they’re working as hard as ever.”
— White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters that thousands of federal employees working without pay were “volunteering” because of “their love for the country and the office of the presidency and presumably their allegiance to President Trump.”
“The president is way stuck on stupid right now. There is no mayor in America in his/her right mind that would ever think about shutting down the government.”
— Former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu (D), in an interview on MSNBC.
“Congressman, do you think it’s appropriate to fly first class while 57,000 TSA agents aren’t being paid?” Davis remained silent, prompting the person to say, “Taking that as a yes.”
— Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) “had an uncomfortable run-in Tuesday when a fellow airplane passenger found him flying first class from Chicago to Washington, D.C.,” the HuffPost reports.
0%
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said that the partial government shutdown “could suffocate the economy this quarter if it persists, leading to zero percent growth,” Politico reports.
54%
A new Politico/Morning Consult poll finds that nearly 6-in-10 voters — 57% — disapprove of President Trump’s job performance, compared to the 40% that approve. In addition, 54% of voters blame Trump and Republicans on Capitol Hill for the government shutdown. Only 35% blame congressional Democrats.
“We get that this is unfair to you, but this is so much bigger than any one person. It is a little bit of pain, but it’s going to be for the future of our country and their children and their grandchildren and generations after that will thank them for their sacrifice right now.”
— Lara Trump, quoted by Newsweek, on the furloughed federal employees due to the government shutdown.
“The longest government shutdown in U.S. history will scar the federal bureaucracy and U.S. economy long after the doors are unlocked and workers return. The feds will struggle to dig out of a backlog of hiring and training that’s essential to pushing out tax refunds, protecting U.S. borders and guiding air traffic. Government contractors are expected to jack up prices on everything from helicopters to IT support, growing wise to an administration that doesn’t pay its bills for weeks on end.”
66%
A new Politico/Morning Consult poll finds that voters are aware of the partial government shutdown, and have some concerns about it—but feel little impact from it. “Nearly 3 of 4 voters (74%) say they understand the causes of the partial government shutdown either ‘very well’ (37%) or ‘somewhat well’ (37%). Roughly the same number of voters, 79%, categorize the ongoing shutdown as a ‘crisis’ or ‘problem,’ as reflected in last week’s poll. Despite this, when asked about the extent to which they are personally impacted by the shutdown, a majority of voters (66%) say there is ‘not much’ or “no” impact on them or their families.”
47%
Amid the longest government shutdown in US history, a new CNN poll finds 55% of Americans say Donald Trump bears more responsibility for it than the Democrats in Congress, and the President’s disapproval rating has climbed five points since last month to 57%. Key finding: “The increase in disapproval for the President comes primarily among whites without college degrees, 45% of whom approve and 47% disapprove, marking the first time his approval rating with this group has been underwater in CNN polling since February 2018.”
53%
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds that by a wide margin, more Americans blame President Trump and Republicans in Congress than congressional Democrats for the now record-breaking government shutdown, and most reject the president’s assertion that there is an illegal-immigration crisis on the southern border. Key findings: “53% say Trump and the Republicans are mainly at fault, and 29% blame the Democrats in Congress. Thirteen percent say both sides bear equal responsibility for the shutdown. That is identical to the end of the 16-day shutdown in 2013, when 29% blamed then-President Barack Obama and 53% put the responsibility on congressional Republicans.”
