John,

Unlike most spending deadlines in Congress, the looming March 14th shutdown is made all the more complicated by recklessness coming from Donald Trump and the un-elected billionaire Elon Musk.

While campaigning for Donald Trump back in November, Elon Musk made the following statement:¹

“We have to reduce spending to live within our means. And, you know, that necessarily involves some temporary hardship, but it will ensure long-term prosperity.”

That “temporary hardship” would affect pretty much everyone except Musk, which is why he seems so eager for a government shutdown:²

A government shutdown may sound great to Elon Musk, but it won’t be great for the remaining government employees who will be furloughed, or required to work without pay, or for people whose assistance may be disrupted because there are no workers to provide it.

A prolonged shutdown would strangle Head Start and education programs, deny people home heating assistance, halt environmental clean-ups, close national parks, and interrupt rental housing assistance. Social Security payments would still be sent out, but anyone newly applying or trying to fix a problem with their benefits will be out of luck.

And threatening and withholding funding―funding already approved by Congress on a bipartisan basis―for programs in our communities might be a great thing for Elon Musk and cronies in the Trump administration, but it is causing real harm for real people in local communities across the country. A full-year continuing resolution (CR) could rubberstamp more opportunities for Elon Musk and the Trump administration to jeopardize Americans’ health and wellbeing.

Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s recklessness has caused enough chaos. A government shutdown would slam the brakes on services from housing to child care to medical research to Meals on Wheels, force workers to go without pay and, if it goes on long enough, throw us into a recession―compounding the impact of the Trump administration’s indiscriminate firings, funding freezes, and damaging economic policies.

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Elon Musk doesn’t mind breaking things and hurting people. If there is a shutdown, it will at least in part result from the cowardice to stand up to Elon Musk. As Senator Patty Murray succinctly puts it:³

“Republicans should not be so eager to let Elon Musk cut off cancer research or clean energy jobs in their districts. They should not follow Elon towards a shutdown.”

We couldn’t agree more.

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Meredith Dodson
Senior Director of Public Policy, Coalition on Human Needs

¹ Elon Musk asks voters to brace for economic 'hardship,' deep spending cuts in potential Trump Cabinet role
² Elon Musk tweet
³ Trump and Musk's slash-and-burn tactics are a sticking point in talks to prevent a shutdown

-- DEBORAH'S EMAIL --

John,

Congress only has until midnight, March 14, to avoid a government shutdown.

Even before Trump was sworn in for a second term, House Speaker Mike Johnson was communicating with Elon Musk about federal budget negotiations and how to avoid a government shutdown in December.¹

Why was the Speaker of the House texting Elon Musk about budget negotiations? Probably because Elon Musk sent a barrage of posts on social media pressuring Republican lawmakers to vote against the proposed Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government―and they listened.²

Another short-term CR was passed at the last minute and that is the one that will expire on March 14th unless Congress acts.

Musk and cronies embedded in the Trump administration are clawing back funding for federal agencies, freezing government funds often at random, and firing tens of thousands of workers―compromising everything from the civil rights of students, taxpayer assistance, disability claims reviews for Social Security, food inspections, workers rights, and airline safety. This is turning the negotiation process into chaos as the deadline to avoid a government shutdown gets closer and closer. This week, Musk has attended closed door meetings with Republican members of Congress and has been texting Senate Appropriations Committee Chair, Sen. Susan Collins. As Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairwoman Sen. Patty Murray said:³

“We cannot stand by and accept a yearlong power grab CR that would help Elon take a chainsaw to programs that families rely on and agencies that keep our communities safe.”

Trump and Johnson are trying to get House Republicans to pass a continuing resolution for the rest of the fiscal year―rubber stamping their agenda while keeping most federal programs flat-funded at 2024 levels even as need rises.⁴ This would effectively amount to a funding cut for programs like food assistance, child care, public health, education, veterans benefits, and housing assistance.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk have caused mayhem by illegally and recklessly firing thousands of government employees and freezing funding for agencies and programs. They are crippling our nation’s ability to provide Social Security, serve veterans, collect taxes owed by billionaires, and protect public health. Our coalition is fighting back and we need your support.

Rush a donation of $5 today to power our advocacy and lobbying efforts and fight back against the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s attacks.

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We need a budget that adequately funds human needs programs and we need a Congress that stands up to Donald Trump and Elon Musk as they attempt to claw back congressionally approved funding.

CHN is working with our allies on Capitol Hill to make sure that we get the services we need, but we can’t do this critical work without your support.

Donate $5 today to power the fight for a budget that allows all of us to thrive.