Getty Senator Bernie Sanders.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders will deliver a response to President Trump’s prime time Oval Office address on the government shut down and border security. Trump will be addressing the nation at 9 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday. Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer will also be delivering a rebuttal on the major TV networks.
Sanders, an independent who often votes with the Democrats and ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, will be live streaming his response online about 9:30 p.m. Eastern. You can watch a stream of his speech below:
On Monday, Sanders issued a statement about how the government shutdown has impacted people in his home state of Vermont.
“In Vermont, alone, over 1,300 federal workers may be going without a paycheck, thanks to Trump’s misguided government shutdown. These include employees who work at the TSA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Customs and Border Patrol, and the Internal Revenue Service,” Sanders said in the statement. “As a result of this shutdown, there is growing concern in Vermont and around the country about how these federal employees are going to pay their mortgages, feed their families and provide for other basic needs without a paycheck.”
Sanders added, “Further, if the shutdown continues into February, many low and moderate-income Vermonters will be impacted. Families who depend upon food stamps to put food on the table may not be able to get that help. Security at airports and the length of time needed to go through security could very well be impacted if TSA employees are not getting paid.”
The senator continued, “Farmers and small businesses won’t be able to receive the financial assistance they need to survive from the Department of Agriculture or the Small Business Administration. It’s time for President Trump to end this shutdown and for Senate Leader McConnell to hold a vote in the Senate to reopen the federal government as soon as possible.”
Sanders has also spoken out about his stance against a southern border wall.
“We do not need to waste billions on an unneeded wall so that Trump can appease right-wing extremists. We need to create millions of good-paying jobs by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure — roads, bridges, water systems, rail and affordable housing,” Sanders said on Twitter.
“There is no border crisis. The real crisis is that 800,000 people don’t know how they’ll pay their mortgages, pay student loans, put gas in their cars or put food on the table because of Donald Trump’s government shutdown,” Sanders tweeted on Tuesday.
He added in a later series of tweets, “Trump’s reckless shutdown is threatening the livelihoods of some 800,000 federal workers. Mr. President: Enough is enough. Federal workers must be paid and the government must reopen. Democrats must block any legislation that does not reopen the government. It is absolutely absurd that the first Senate legislation during the shutdown is a bill which punishes Americans who exercise their constitutional right to engage in political activity.”
On Monday, Sanders said, “As a result of Trump’s shutdown, 800,000 federal employees are in danger of not receiving a paycheck. They’re worried about how they’ll pay their mortgages, feed their families and put gas in their cars. Unbelievably, Republican leader Mitch McConnell refuses to take action.”