Today Marks the Longest Government Shutdown in American History
Today officially marks the longest government shutdown in American history, a painful new record caused entirely by Senate Democrats’ refusal to fund the government unless they get their way on radical and partisan demands.
In Utah and across the country, Americans are feeling the consequences:
- Families, including 86,000 households in Utah, can’t access the SNAP benefits they rely on to feed their children.
- TSA agents and air traffic controllers are being forced to work without pay.
- Our troops and their families don’t know when the next paycheck will come.
- Small businesses have been cut off from critical SBA loans.
- And over the weekend, travelers experienced thousands of flight delays, with security wait times stretching past five hours in some airports.
All of this pain, and Democrats are still refusing to vote for a clean, nonpartisan CR – the same one they supported 13 times under the Biden administration.
Even with President Trump stepping in to do everything he can to protect military pay and extend temporary funding for WIC and SNAP, those stopgap funds are now running out.
The facts are clear:
- Over $18 billion has already been lost from the U.S. economy.
- The travel industry has lost more than $4 billion, and nearly 500 travel organizations have signed onto a letter urging Democrats to pass the clean CR.
- United, Delta, American, and Southwest, along with major pilot unions, have all endorsed the Republican plan to reopen the government.
- More than 5,000 flights were delayed on Sunday alone due to air traffic controller staffing shortages.
The Democrat Shutdown hits every family, worker, and traveler in Utah’s Fourth District and across the country.
I voted for and helped pass a clean, nonpartisan CR to fund the government on September 16. Senate Democrats have blocked it 14 times.