Friends,

I hope you’re doing well. I wanted to check in on an issue you might be hearing about in the news – the impending threat of a government shutdown.

Here’s the deal: because of the way government funding works, Congress needs to continually appropriate funding or risk a shutdown. While we’ve avoided catastrophe in the last several years, Republican infighting in the House makes it appear that they may not produce a workable spending bill on time.

Let me be clear: in the Senate, there is huge bipartisan momentum to pass funding bills. We’re literally having 80-90% of senators voting to get these bills done. If the government shuts down, it will be because a small handful of extreme Republicans in the House simply refused to govern.

Government shutdowns aren’t political games. They have real and negative consequences on countless Americans. Servicemembers and federal workers won’t get paid, putting stress on hardworking middle class families. Many veterans’ services are suspended. Travelers could face delays with cuts to security and air traffic controllers, and passport renewals would likely take longer. National Parks could shutter. Food safety inspections would get delayed. Federal research on diseases including cancer and Alzheimer’s would stop.

In short, it would devastate lives and damage our economy. We’ve had a fairly smooth recovery from COVID, but it hasn’t been perfect. The last thing we need is to hurt middle class families by unleashing a completely unnecessary shutdown.

If you want to share your thoughts about government shutdowns or another issue that’s important to you, you can send me an email any time using the form on my Senate website. You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,