Washington politicians react to end of shutdown
Jan 25, 2019, 2:11 PM | Updated: 3:48 pm
Washington Governor Jay Inslee says the shutdown should have never happened. Congressman Adam Smith says that “finally” President Trump has done “what he should have done in the first place,” and ended a “manufactured crisis, engineered by President Trump.” And Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal says the record-setting government shutdown has only led up to a “rambling speech” in the White House Rose Garden.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2019
Here are a few highlights from Washington’s leaders reacting to news that the government shutdown will end, for at least three weeks.
Senator Patty Murray
I’m glad that President Trump and Senate Republicans finally listened to workers, agreed to open the government, and end this #TrumpShutdown.
We breathe a sigh of relief today, but we need to do everything we can to make sure this doesn’t happen again in a few short weeks.
This 35-day shutdown has caused tremendous damage in WA and across the country—uncertainty for workers and families, unpaid bills, economic toll, services jeopardized, backlogs and delays at airports and federal agencies, trash piling up at our national parks, and so much more.
I hope President Trump will work with Democrats instead of governing by tantrum. We made it clear we don’t support using taxpayer dollars to pay for the president’s wasteful wall, but we’re willing to work with Republicans on responsible border security once the shutdown ends.
I encourage anyone who was hurt by this shutdown to keep the pressure on President Trump and his Republican allies to not go down this path again. I urge the president to work with us on actual solutions and set aside his threats to circumvent Congress if he doesn’t get his way.
Gov. Jay Inslee
Congressman Adam Smith
This is a manufactured crisis, engineered by President Trump, that has harmed hundreds of thousands of Americans. While not surprising, the tone-deaf remarks recently uttered by this President and senior members of his Administration, particularly Secretary Ross, show just how out of touch with reality they are about the difficult and dangerous position which the shutdown has put families.
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If the President believes there has been a change in our border security needs that warrants a wall, then he should articulate those reasons to Congress based on facts. Time and again, President Trump has lied and mischaracterized the actual situation to the American people, claiming a ‘crisis’ at the border and that the ‘worst of the worst’ are pouring into the United States. These claims are demonstrably false and made only to justify harmful policies meant to appease his base. If additional border security is so desperately needed, as Trump claims, then why is he proposing a border wall that experts, including Customs and Border Patrol officials, have determined is not an effective border security strategy?
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From the beginning, President Trump’s justification for a border wall was not rooted in a need for border security, but in the misguided notion that immigrants are somehow inherent threats to American society. This racist and xenophobic view has been the basis for Trump’s entire immigration agenda and could not be further from the truth.
Congresswoman Pramila Jaypal
800,000 workers without pay and billions drained from our economy all so he can give a rambling speech in the Rose Garden?
This shutdown had real consequences for real people. We need to see immediate back pay for ALL federal workers—including contractors.
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) January 25, 2019
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