Heading Off a Government Shutdown

Rep Diana DeGette

After 6 weeks of working in Denver, I headed back to Washington, D.C. last week. From touring DEN renovations and expansions to visiting small businesses and connecting with Denverites, this time was particularly meaningful to me. It was great to hear from so many of you during this time.

Now that we’re back in D.C., there are several major items on the agenda. First and foremost is ensuring that the government does not shutdown on October 1. We are just 10 days away from that deadline, and the Republican majority in the House is dragging their feet. Infighting about potential cuts and possible strategies are leading the GOP to take no action at all – in fact, funding bills we were meant to vote on this week were pulled at the last minute. This inaction could have disastrous results.

I don’t mean to be alarmist, but you should understand the stakes. A shutdown would deny millions of federal workers their paychecks. Our National Parks would go without rangers. Services for veterans and seniors would be impacted. Our overall economy would take a massive hit. And it’s all avoidable.

I don’t mean to be alarmist, but you should understand the stakes.

I’ve urged my colleagues to work together in a bipartisan manner to fund the government, just as we worked together this past spring to reach a compromise deal for raising the debt limit. But this would require Republicans to remove the poison pills (like the anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ provisions they’ve included) from their funding bills, and so far they’ve been unwilling to do that.

In a further example of just how radical this majority is, last week, Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced the House was opening an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. There is no concrete evidence of any wrongdoing by President Biden. Even Congressional Republicans are questioning the merits of this nakedly partisan investigation. This cheap and dangerous gambit is an attempt to distract from the fact that Republicans are flailing in their attempt to govern.

While we try to avoid a shutdown and fend off a baseless impeachment inquiry, I am continuing my work to combat gun violence. Last week I led 60+ Congressional Democrats in sending a letter asking President Biden to do more to address gun violence. The president has made reducing gun violence a major part of his agenda, and we’ve seen progress in some areas. But we can’t stop here. My letter outlines 5 concrete steps that he can take to save lives and reduce gun violence. I hope that he’ll take these actions, and I’ll continue to do everything I can to address the crisis of gun violence.

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette serves Colorado’s First Congressional District. Rep. DeGette serves on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. She also serves on several subcommittees and is chair of the Energy and Climate panel of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.