John,

Congress has until this Saturday to avoid a government shutdown—but extremists in the House are standing in the way. A right-wing faction has repeatedly blocked government funding legislation unless their demands to dramatically slash spending and deny humanitarian protections for migrants are met.

We cannot allow our government to be held hostage by a small group of extremist lawmakers who are out of step with the American people. It’s critical that members of Congress—regardless of party affiliation—stand up to these far-right extremists and prevent them from holding our government hostage.

Extremists in the House are pushing deep cuts to services like Head Start, K-12 education, mental health services, and WIC. The last thing we need is a government shutdown over extremist demands.

That’s why, today, we’re joining our coalition partners for a National Call-in Day to urge Congress to reject extremists’ demands and fund important services.

Call Congress today at 202-224-3121 and tell them to pass a clean, bipartisan stopgap spending bill that addresses urgent needs. (You’ll be asked by the Congressional Switchboard operator which member of Congress you’d like to reach.)

Calling is easy -- and it’s very important.

We’ve provided a suggested call script below to help with your call.

Suggested call script:

“Hello, my name is _____ and I live in _________. I urge the Representative/Senator to vote to keep needed services operating and reject a government shutdown. A shutdown would harm our nation’s overall economy and our community’s access to the help they need. You must not make it harder for people to put food on the table, a roof over their heads, and stay safe and healthy. Instead, I’m counting on the Representative/Senator to do their job and reject the push by some extremists for harsh cuts. I urge Congress to pass a bill with adequate funds for services including WIC and child care. Thank you.”

Once you’ve called your representative, be sure to call both your senators too—they need to hear loud and clear from you! And if your family has been impacted by cuts to government services or will face hardship in a government shutdown, share your story for an even bigger impact.

Additional information: A small group of House Republicans want extreme cuts and items from the right-wing wish list in federal spending bills, whether full-year or short-term. We’re days away from the end of the federal fiscal year, and if it’s up to the extremists, there will be a shutdown. If Speaker McCarthy would allow a stopgap spending bill (like the bipartisan Continuing Resolution moving in the Senate) to come to the floor, it would pass. But so far he is trying for a Republican bill, and so he—and the nation—are being held hostage. The twin threats before us are (1) a shutdown that, if it lasts longer than a few days, will slow or stop services, hurt workers, and threaten the economy and (2) ever harsher cuts and restrictions demanded as the price of keeping the government open.  

House Republicans tried to pass a one-month temporary spending bill, but even though it cut domestic appropriations deeply and would strip humanitarian protections for migrants, it was not harsh enough for the extremists. Now McCarthy is trying to win them over by putting some full-year appropriations bills on the floor with even more extreme cuts and attacks on migrants. Such bills will die in the Senate, which has a clean bipartisan package, so the shutdown gets closer.

This shutdown would harm our nation’s overall economy, the financial security of individuals and families, government efficiency, and the public’s access to needed services by delaying or interrupting services to millions. It would disrupt the jobs of over a million federal workers and make it harder for people to put food on the table, a roof over their heads, and stay safe and healthy. The shutdown would affect employees of federal contractors even more acutely—unlike workers directly employed by the federal government, they do not receive back pay. Their ranks include security guards, carpenters, electricians, cafeteria workers, cleaning crews, and more. Overall, a shutdown would make vulnerable communities, including people of color, more at risk and result in their disproportionate harm.

Poverty is a policy decision, not an inevitability. Congress must move forward and pass a clean, bipartisan stopgap spending bill that addresses urgent and ongoing needs to give time to agree on full-year funding levels. Now let’s get it done!

Thank you,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs