The National Governors Association and other local governmental organizations urged congressional leaders to end the government shutdown Friday, writing in a letter that the shutdown is placing undue stress on state resources — and must be settled “swiftly.”
Addressing Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the NGA and other associations said the shutdown has strained state and local governments, which cannot sustainably absorb federal responsibilities.
Despite the “importance of principled positions on spending and policy,” the letter reads, Congress must enter bipartisan talks and prioritize ending the shutdown.
“History has shown that even after a shutdown ends, states and localities will feel its ripple effects for months,” the organizations write.
Other signees include the National Conference of State Legislatures, the United States Conference of Mayors and the National Association of Counties.
Due to the shutdown stalemate, state governments are vulnerable in areas like “economic stability, national security, disaster preparedness, food insecurity, infrastructure maintenance, the federal court system, and more,” according to the letter.
Without federal funds for food stamps, for example, states have been scrambling to fill the gap with their own money. But states can’t completely offset the loss of federal dollars.
“The unpredictability of the shutdown makes it impossible for state and local officials to predict when specific harmful impacts will reach our communities, hindering our ability to plan and coordinate timely and effective responses,” they write.
This government shutdown is already the longest in American history, threatening to drag into its seventh week.
Major airlines are calling for a prompt resolution, especially as travelers brace for widespread flight reductions across the country. The president of the largest federal worker union has said the same, breaking rank with Democrats to do so.
Thune said the Senate may work through the weekend should Democrats block the House-passed funding bill later Friday.
