White House acting chief of staff and Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney was pressing agency leaders to provide him with a list of the programs that would be most affected if the partial government shutdown continues into March and April on Wednesday, according to The Washington Post.
People familiar with the request said Mulvaney wanted the list by Friday and is a sign President Donald Trump is not willing to back down from his demand of $5.7 billion in funding for a border wall with Mexico.
However, the tide of opinion is moving against Trump due to the prolonged shutdown keeping 800,000 federal employees either furloughed or working without pay.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has refused to bow to Trump's demands and even though Trump is trying to cast blame on the Democrats for the shutdown, a new poll from CBS News said 47% of people surveyed responding that Pelosi was handling the shutdown better than Trump.
The government shutdown entered its fifth week and is the longest in U.S. history, with many federal employees and contractors describing how they have had to turn to food banks, community resources, and friends and family to make ends meet after they wait to get paid.
The shutdown is also likely to expand in the coming weeks, including an end to major operations in the federal court system after February 1.
The Department of Agriculture is also without funding to pay for food stamp benefits in March for nearly 40 million people.
Hundreds of protesters filled the Senate Hart building on Wednesday to hold up empty plates and demand an end to the shutdown.
Several unions have also begun to file legal actions against the Trump administration as workers prepare to miss a second consecutive paycheck at the end of this week.
The Post also reported the U.S. General Services Administration, an agency that manages many of the government’s leases and contracts, sent notices to several departments which said if the shutdown persists it does not know how it will pay utility and lease payments in February.
If the GSA is unable to make rental payments for the federal agencies, it could incur major fees and debts, but would also affect the property owners who rely on the government for their income.
Many within the service industry in Washington D.C. have also described facing a shortage of business customers, ranging from restaurants to dry cleaners.
-WN.com, Maureen Foody
Photo:
AP / Patrick Semansky
