Senator Murray Statement on OMB Memo Issued Last Night

Washington, D.C. –  Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on the memo issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) last night regarding agency preparations for a potential government shutdown: “Instead of sitting down with Democrats to prevent a shutdown and protect Americans’ health care, President Trump is threatening to inflict more pain on the American people—in red and blue states alike. “America deserves so much better than a petty wannabe tyrant. President Trump will try to abuse a shutdown—just like he’s trampled our laws for months—but that doesn’t mean he gets whatever he wants as a result. This is nothing new: Donald Trump has spent the better part of a year chaotically and indiscriminately firing—and then rehiring—essential government workers. “The constitution does not make the president a king, and a shutdown certainly doesn’t make him one either. Trump needs to sit down and negotiate with Democrats to prevent a shutdown of his own making.” ###