Udall calls on Trump to return from pointless border photo op & heed bipartisan calls to open the government
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.) joined his Democratic colleagues in taking to the Senate floor to demand “unanimous consent” to take up the bipartisan appropriations bills passed by the House to reopen the federal government. Republican Leader Mitch McConnell blocked Senate Democrats’ efforts despite the fact that tomorrow, thousands of federal workers will miss their first paychecks due to the Trump shutdown. Meanwhile, as working families go without paychecks and critical public services grind to a halt, President Trump will travel to McAllen, Texas, for a photo opportunity , as he continues to keep the government shut down over a wasteful wall that border communities reject.
“Today, I joined with my Democratic colleagues and took to the Senate floor to call on Republican leaders to do their jobs and end this Trump shutdown now. Too many New Mexicans have already been hurt as the president holds their livelihoods hostage. The Senate can and should immediately pass this bipartisan package that would reopen the federal government, especially since Republican leaders supported these same appropriations bills in the last Congress. But Leader McConnell refused that request and also denied our demands to pass a separate emergency bill that would give relief to the hundreds of thousands of federal workers – including thousands in New Mexico – whose lives have been thrown into chaos by the Trump shutdown.
“This is indefensible. Twenty days into this Trump shutdown, and one day before federal workers will go without paychecks, families all across New Mexico are paying a steep price for this act of deliberate obstructionism. Thousands of New Mexico workers and their families are facing deep economic anxiety as they wonder how they will make their mortgage or rent payments, and put food on the table to feed their families. Yet Republican leaders continue to let President Trump hold the livelihoods of working families hostage in a deeply misguided attempt to force American taxpayers to pay for the president’s wasteful and ineffective border wall.
“I urge Leader McConnell and Republican leadership to muster the political will to stand up to President Trump, and to stop capitulating to his reckless temper tantrum. I call on the president to stop using border communities as pawns and props in his cynical attempts to sow division among the American people by demonizing immigrants who are our neighbors, our coworkers, our friends, and our family members. And as a border state senator, I demand that President Trump return to Washington and end this shutdown now, rather than visit border communities that reject his demands for a wall that would run right through our communities and trample on our way of life. The bipartisan National Governors Association, along with a growing number of Republicans, support reopening the government immediately. But instead of opening up the government, President Trump is traveling to Texas to pursue a photo op – while Republican leaders refuse to do their jobs. Federal employees want to get back to work, and Americans want critical government services restored. It’s time to end this Trump shutdown now.”
Earlier this week, Udall spoke out on the Senate floor, calling on President Trump and Senate Republicans to end the shutdown immediately.
