Beshear: President Trump was a ‘loser’ in the government shutdown – WHAS11

KENTUCKY, USA — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear was critical of President Donald Trump and his handling of the government shutdown during his Team Kentucky update on Thursday.

“On the shutdown, what I’d say is that no one wins a shutdown, but I believe that there were two losers coming out of the shutdown,” Beshear said.

“First, congressional Republicans which showed that they were absolutely unwilling to pass a law that would extend tax credits, even though they passed a law that extended tax cuts. They basically said we will not the step that’s necessary to prevent millions of Americans’ healthcare from going up significantly. I think the second loser is our current president who very clearly said that he was willing to allow people to go hungry for political leverage. He said he didn’t have the authority to fund SNAP even though every other president has,” Beshear continued.

During the shutdown, millions of Americans didn’t receive federal food assistance, air travel was impacted and federal workers didn’t receive a paycheck for a period of time.

Beshear said on Thursday the federal shutdown didn’t have to happen.

“This is the first president that has ever refused to pay SNAP benefits during a shutdown,” Beshear said. “Two courts told him that he could pay full benefits during a shutdown and he went to court to try to not pay those full benefits. But, we’re coming out of the shutdown, what’s most important is that the people in Kentucky get the help that they need and that no one goes hungry, especially in a month where we celebrate Thanksgiving.”

Beshear said there are a number of programs that should now be funded that were frozen during the shutdown, including TANF; which helps families pay for food, housing, home energy, and child care, as well as Head Start, an early childhood education program.

“Our people and the American people are not pawns, are not political leverage, and in a state and a country where we grow enough food for everyone, no one should have to worry about their next meal,” Beshear said.

The governor also said federal workers who live in Kentucky should be receiving paychecks soon.

“We have about 20-30,000 federal employees in Kentucky,” Beshear said. “They’ve been going without a paycheck at all. Life’s already too hard right now. The bills pile up, it seems like there’s nothing leftover for most people at the end of the week and the end of the month, and then imagine not getting a paycheck at all for that period of time. Certainly glad that our federal workers are gonna be back on the job.”

The legislation includes a reversal of the firing of federal workers by the Trump administration since the shutdown began. It also protects federal workers against further layoffs through January and guarantees they are paid once the shutdown is over. 

The full-year funding in the bill for the Agriculture Department means people who rely on key food assistance programs will see those benefits funded without threat of interruption through the rest of the budget year.

“The shutdown is over, the government has reopened. My goal is to make the best of that as we move forward for Kentucky,” Beshear said. “There aren’t winners in a shutdown but I think the American people very clearly saw who was fighting for their healthcare and who didn’t care if their healthcare premiums went up and they saw who was willing to let people go hungry and who wasn’t.”