House Dems spotlight impact of looming shutdown on women and families

“They do not care what happens in our communities,” a member of the Democratic Women’s Caucus told Supercreator News about her House Republican colleagues.

Photo by Ivan Samkov via Pexels

The House is currently completing a marathon series of votes on amendments to two of four funding bills it will consider for final passage late tonight. Even if the quartet clears the chamber, the bills are dead on arrival in the Senate and at the White House. And most importantly, they will do nothing to keep the government open beyond this weekend.

The women and families who rely on federal agencies to provide nutrition assistance, maternal care, public education services, and more will feel the brunt of a government shutdown. And of course, it’s Black and brown women and families who will suffer the economic violence wrought by House Republicans’ proposed deep cuts and inability to perform one of the primary responsibilities of a governing majority.

“You go through the list and when you are cutting programs that are meant to provide opportunities to those who are socioeconomically not wealthy, we know who we’re talking about—and those are our communities, Rep. TERESA LEGER FERNÁNDEZ (D-N.M.), vice chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, said to Supercreator News on Thursday afternoon. “They do not care what happens in our communities.”

Leger Fernández added that the broader purpose of the GOP cuts and shutdown demands is to eliminate diversity as an American priority.

“Anything that is meant to address and to increase diversity, both in terms of minority populations and in terms of women, they are cutting,” she said. “We’re in their crosshairs and they are trying to cut us out of the budget.”

---

The Senate takes first step to avoid shutdown

---

JOCELYN FRYE, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families, told reporters that the government shutdown crisis demonstrates how low supporting the economic security and health of these communities rank on House Republican leadership’s list of priorities.

In addition to cuts to the Women, Infant, and Children nutrition program and Title I, which provides financial assistance to local schools to educate low-income families, a shutdown would also eliminate the Labor Department’s Women’s Bureau and cut enforcement at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by $35 million in the Wage and Hour Division. Initiatives that fund maternal and women’s health would be slashed by $800 million too.

“These [cuts] are unreasonable and they are dangerous and they will harm families,” Frye said. “These are cuts we should fight. They are non-negotiable, and they’re non-starters.”