Americans don't want their representatives to succumb to the pressure of a government shutdown.
Politicians on both sides of the party are hearing the same message from their constituents, whether they are in vulnerable areas or party strongholds, it has been reported. MSNBC Monday: “Keep fighting.”
“Almost to a T, what I'm hearing from people is that they want us to keep fighting for them, that they want us to get back on our feet, and they don't want us to give up,” Washington Democratic Party spokeswoman Pramila Jayapal told the station.
Such pressure may indicate that Americans are not interested in their parties deciding to continue funding the government. Instead, they would prefer that the shutdown continue.
“Coming from a red state, you won't be surprised that most of the calls are for Republicans to stand their ground and keep fighting,” Indiana GOP Sen. Todd Young told MSNBC.
More than 700,000 federal employees have been laid off due to the shutdown, according to a Department of Health report. Bipartisan Policy Center. Congress has yet to pass either a stopgap funding measure or a full-year appropriations bill to end the economic shutdown. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has laid off thousands of federal workers.
Monday marked the twentieth day that the government remains shut down as Republicans and Democrats disagree over how to finance Trump's “big, beautiful” budget, which included details of cutting billions of dollars from Obamacare and Medicaid subsidies.
Democrats—and their constituents—insist that party officials hold firm until they find a way to save subsidized health care programs. But there's a major hitch on the horizon: Open enrollment for Obamacare plans begins November 1st. If the shutdown is not resolved by then, millions of Americans will be forced to make decisions about their health insurance without knowing whether premiums will drop.
Maryland Democratic Party spokesman Jamie Raskin told MSNBC that “the vast majority of people I hear from and see insist that we will work hard to resolve the health crisis and government shutdown at the same time.”
“We don’t have the luxury of choice here,” Raskin said.
Notably, this issue has not received much discussion in Congressional offices across the country. Politicians on both sides of the aisle told MSNBC they were surprised by the minimal number of calls about their offices being closed.
“I know a lot of Americans are concerned about the shutdown, but I just don't know that there was very much interaction until the last few days,” Young told MSNBC last week.
