And some Texas Democrats have had just about enough of GOP lawmakers’ infighting.
With Thanksgiving just over a week away, the House on Tuesday passed a proposal to maintain government funding at current levels into early 2024. The Senate approved the bill on Wednesday night. Texas Republican U.S. Rep. Chip Roy lambasted the stopgap measure as “crap,” but Lone Star liberals argued that there’s too much at stake to let the Friday funding deadline pass without a resolution.
U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Dallas Democrat, told the Observer ahead of Tuesday’s House vote that she’d support the bill to avert a shutdown. She feared such a stoppage would hurt federal workers’ pocketbooks at a crucial time. A shutdown could prompt some government employees to decide that they can no longer grapple with the unpredictability that comes with their job, she said. That’s especially true of those in lower-paying careers who live check-to-check.
“It used to be the best job that you could have,” Crockett said. “And now, it is consistently riddled with uncertainty at a time when people are still feeling the strain of the inflation that we struggled with globally as a result of COVID-19.”
Crockett noted that air traffic controllers emerged as heroes during the last government shutdown.
In late 2018 and early 2019, hundreds of thousands of federal workers were made to work without pay, with many being forced to tap into their savings accounts. They would then have to wait for the arrival of back pay. Eventually, 10 air traffic controllers refused to report to work, a move that disrupted the aviation system and led to the end of the historic 35-day shutdown, according to CNN.
Many people may not realize how far the ripple effects of a government shutdown extend, Crockett said. In addition to commercial planes, air traffic controllers deal with those involved in the supply chain.
“Once again, @HouseDemocrats eagerly put partisanship aside and step in to avert another Republican catastrophe.” – U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar
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The shutdown loomed as tensions continue to ramp up globally with the wars in Ukraine and Israel, not to mention “there’s been some level of aggression that has been waged by Iran,” Crockett added.
“The last thing that we need to do to service members and/or their loved ones is say, ‘Yes, we need you to go and protect democracy and freedom for ourselves, as well as the rest of the world, but we're not going to pay you,’” she continued. “It's just the most un-American thing that you could do.”
In an open letter on Monday, Crockett inquired about what banking institutions and various billing entities were doing to prepare for a possible GOP-led shutdown ahead of Thanksgiving. She wrote that the scenario could potentially mean that millions of families wouldn’t be able to cover their loan payments and mortgage and utility costs.
“With Thanksgiving right around the corner, we cannot throw millions of families out in the cold,” she continued in the letter. “The power is now in the hands of responsible House Republicans to call on their leadership to put people over politics, and I can only hope they heed this call.”
The Texas Democratic Party on Tuesday blasted House Republicans over their ongoing internal conflicts. The Dems wrote in a press release that newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana hadn’t secured full support from his party on the temporary spending budget, “delivering a blow to any claim that the MAGA Republican Party is aligned” under his authority.
More than a dozen Texas GOP House lawmakers voted against their party’s stopgap funding bill, The Texas Tribune reported.
Crockett wasn’t the only North Texas Democrat to throw support behind the measure, known as a continuing resolution (CR). U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey of Fort Worth voted for it, too, explaining his position in a post on X.
“Preventing a government shutdown is critical to the well-being of our economy, our national security, and our work #ForThePeople,” he wrote on Wednesday. “That is why I voted for this bill yesterday.”
Preventing a government shutdown is critical to the well-being of our economy, our national security, and our work #ForThePeople. That is why I voted for this bill yesterday.https://t.co/C9jsS3SDkn
— Rep. Marc Veasey (@RepVeasey) November 15, 2023
Earlier in the week, Veasey shared a post by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York stating that lower-chamber Dems “are working hard to deliver for everyday Americans and prevent a government shutdown.”
West Texas Democratic U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar also posted on X to mark the CR’s journey through the House.
“Just voted in favor of a continuing resolution to keep the government open and operating at current funding levels,” the El Paso representative wrote on Tuesday. “Once again, @HouseDemocrats eagerly put partisanship aside and step in to avert another Republican catastrophe.”
