Senator Murray Supports Legislation to End Trump Shutdown and Deliver Backpay to 800,000 Federal Workers; Urges Republicans to Work with Democrats in Good Faith to Avoid Another Crisis in a Few Short Weeks

(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) released the following statement in support of legislation to end the partial government shutdown:

 “I am so glad that President Trump and Senate Republicans finally listened to workers and people across the country and agreed to reopen the government and end this absolutely unnecessary shutdown. I want to thank the workers, Coast Guard service members, and their families in Washington state and across the country for their service and sacrifices over this hard month. We can breathe a sigh of relief today, and then we need to get to work to clean up the mess that President Trump created for absolutely no reason and do everything we can to make sure this doesn’t happen again in a few short weeks.

 “This 35-day shutdown has caused tremendous damage in Washington state and across the country—uncertainty for workers and families, unpaid bills, economic toll on communities, services jeopardized or put on hold, backlogs and delays at airports and critical federal agencies, trash piling up at our national parks, and so much more. The level of chaos and dysfunction the American people were forced to deal with over the past month was truly appalling and has absolutely no place in the United States of America.

 “I am hoping that President Trump and his Republican allies have learned a lesson from this and will choose to work with Democrats in good faith instead of playing more political games or trying to govern by tantrum. Democrats have made it clear that we don’t support using American taxpayer dollars to pay for the wasteful wall that President Trump promised Mexico would pay for, but we’ve also made it clear that we are of course willing to continue working with Republicans on responsible border security once the shutdown ends. I encourage anyone who was hurt and frustrated by this shutdown to keep the pressure on President Trump and his Republican allies to not go down this path again. And I strongly urge President Trump to work with us on actual solutions and to set aside his threats to abuse his power and circumvent Congress if he doesn’t get his way.”

 Sen. Murray is a cosponsor of S. 24, which ensures federal employees receive backpay.