How has the government shutdown affected you or the people that you love?
Louis Bracy, Washington, D.C.
“I’m retired, but I have two nieces and one nephew who is out of a job directly due to Trump. One of them had worked for 12 years with the Department of Education. And as you know, he shut the Department of Education [down]….So it affected my family personally. And all Americans will be affected if they allow tax increases to go on health care. So I’m here to stop that.”
Dr. David Camp, Washington, D.C.
“My girlfriend is somebody that was laid off because of it, so it’s affected things deeply. And she was a great employee. The head of the agency loved her, but she had to go, and it’s really unfortunate. So it’s very traumatic. You’ve got people who say we want to traumatize public servants. That’s not in the American spirit.”
Christina Collazo, Washington, D.C.
“Well, personally, I work in the service industry. I’m a server, I’m a bartender, and when the government shuts down it shuts down everything. It affects tourism in D.C. It affects the flow of people coming in to the city to visit, like museums, monuments, stuff like that. Businesses — local and large scale, small scale — they’re all suffering. People can’t afford to go out and enjoy themselves. People can barely afford to live. So how are you going to afford to do the luxuries in life when you can’t even afford to pay your rent, feed your kids?”
Philip Harris, Washington, D.C.
“Being a D.C. resident. The government shutdown has drastically altered my city that it can’t in any other city… Most of the people here work for the government, and while I personally don’t, I see it in the fact that my city has become a ghost town… And it’s definitely hurting the economy.”
Compiled by Keith Golden Jr.