Hi friend,

Let’s be clear: This shutdown was caused by Republicans who made a deliberate choice to put ideology ahead of families, cruelty ahead of care, and chaos ahead of community. 

Here’s the truth of what that choice means:

• SNAP and WIC are at risk. WIC could run out of funds within weeks, and SNAP will come under strain if the shutdown drags on. That means mothers and children could lose access to basic nutrition because Republicans would rather play political games than fund nutrition.
• Federal workers are being used as pawns. Hundreds of thousands have been furloughed or forced to work without pay. And now, the Trump administration is threatening unprecedented mass firings, not to save money, but to punish public servants who don’t bend to their ideology.
• Communities like ours are being targeted. Billions of dollars in clean energy and transit projects have been frozen or canceled, primarily in blue states. This is not fiscal responsibility. It’s political retribution that punishes families and workers for where they live or what they think.

This administration and its loyalists are weaponizing the funding deadline to dismantle civil rights protections, slash programs millions of Americans depend on, and turn the federal government into a partisan machine. This is neglect. It is cruelty, plain and simple.

And that’s why I fight every single day in Congress to make sure our communities are never sacrificed to political games, and our families are never held hostage by extremism.

But this work takes all of us. If you believe in standing up to cruelty and protecting dignity, I’m asking you to join me now.

Together, we will not yield. We will not be silenced. 

With determination,
Yvette D. Clarke