Udall, Heinrich Speak Out Against Looming Trump Shutdown

WASHINGTON – Tonight, U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich are speaking out against President Trump shutting down the government in order to try and force American taxpayers to pay for his border wall. Udall and Heinrich both voted for a bipartisan compromise measure to keep the government open earlier this week, but Trump refused to support the agreement.

"Earlier this week, we came together to pass a responsible, bipartisan compromise to keep the government open. But now the president and his extreme allies in Congress are holding government hostage – and holding the livelihoods of thousands of families across New Mexico hostage – in order to try and force taxpayers to pay for a border wall that New Mexicans reject,” said Udall. “It is outrageous that the president is threatening paychecks for New Mexico workers and threatening our state’s economy at the holidays, all as part of an anti-immigrant tantrum that isn’t based in reality. The president is out of touch with the concerns of working people, and he isn’t thinking about those who could be hurt by his government shutdown. He is singularly focused on trying to build a wasteful, ineffective, and destructive wall, and then sticking New Mexico families with the bill. As a border state and as one of the states that could be hurt the most by a government shutdown, New Mexico has a message for President Trump: we cannot afford a Trump shutdown, and we don’t need this waste of a wall. The president should end this madness and start governing responsibly."

“The Senate has already unanimously passed a bipartisan clean spending bill to keep the government open that includes robust resources and funding for border security. That bill has the votes to pass in the House. Signing that clean bill is the only responsible way forward,” said Heinrich. “It is ridiculous that the president has pushed the government to the brink of a shutdown to satisfy the most extreme, right-wing voices of his party. Federal workers and their families in New Mexico and across the country should not be held hostage for President Trump’s campaign promise to build a wasteful border wall.  It’s up to President Trump to accept this bipartisan agreement and not shut down the government.”