Movement Call Organizes ‘Shutdown Showdown’ in Defense of Our Health Care
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Wednesday evening, on the first night of the federal government shutdown, a coalition of advocacy organizations including Fair Share America, Indivisible, MoveOn, Public Citizen, Working Families Power, People’s Action, Women’s March and many others held a mass mobilization call with grassroots activists across the country to discuss the shutdown and how people can organize collectively to support and protect our communities. Over 18,000 people joined the call, and 40 events and actions related to the shutdown are already in the works, with more to come.
Speakers included:
- Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost, FL-10
- Congressman Greg Casar, TX-35
- Maurice Mitchell, National Director, Working Families Power
- Ezra Levin, Co-Executive Director, Indivisible Project
- Lisa Gilbert, Co-President, Public Citizen
- Sparkle Edwards, a homecare worker with SEIU from Virginia
- Ash-Lee Henderson, Movement Organizer & Strategist
“Americans across the country are calling for their representatives to stand up to Trump and his administration and demand a budget proposal that returns healthcare to Americans and creates guardrails to stop the illegal undercutting of the Congressional power of the purse. For months now, Trump and Republicans in Congress have been shutting the government down little by little, firing workers randomly, withholding funding for cancer research, and stripping health care from millions. The message Senate Democrats are sending now is: enough is enough.” — Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen.
“Trump and Congressional Republicans have been shutting the government for months — working with Elon Musk to obliterate entire portions of our federal workforce, shutting down critical government services, withholding funding for lifesaving scientific and medical research, and putting our hospitals, schools, and economy at risk. And now they are choosing to fully shut down the government instead of negotiating with Democrats and lowering health care costs for working class families. This shutdown is a Republican shutdown. In this moment, working people will continue to make it clear to our elected leaders that we won’t accept anything less than a funding bill that fixes our healthcare crisis.” — Maurice Mitchell, national director of Working Families Power
“As the party in power, President Trump and Republicans’ priorities are clear: slashing our health care, eliminating cancer research funding, gutting Medicaid and our entire government to give away tax cuts to billionaires. The blame for this shutdown rests squarely on Trump and Republicans’ shoulders. Democrats should keep their commitment to use the leverage they have to fight for our country and save our health care” — Katie Bethell, executive director of MoveOn.
“Trump and congressional Republicans control a federal government trifecta; they are responsible for ending the shutdown. We don’t know how long this shutdown is going to last. What we do know is Republicans could end this Trump Shutdown TODAY by passing a deal that averts the massive spike in healthcare costs. They need to feel heat from their constituents to actually sit down and negotiate with the Democrats. That’s where we come in.” — Ezra Levin, co-executive director of Indivisible.
Events will take place throughout the week, with many scheduled for Saturday, October 4th. To find an event near you, visit https://linktr.ee/shutdownshowdown