SEATTLE, WA – This shutdown is not just a political spat, it is an attack on communities and ecosystems. President Trump and Congressional Republicans have spent the year making things more expensive for working families, everything from food to energy costs to healthcare. At the same time, they’ve been rolling back protections for ecosystems and they’re ignoring funding levels set by law that protect clean air, clean water and a healthy climate.
“Washington Conservation Action (WCA) is committed to working across the aisle to find solutions that help all communities thrive,” says Christina Wong, WCA’s interim chief executive officer. “From former Gov. Dan Evans (R) to Gov. Jay Inslee (D), we’ve worked with Republicans and Democrats. We expect our Congress and President to do the same.”
Trump, and his Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought (an architect of Project 2025), have made it abundantly clear that they want to gut the staff and expertise of the federal civil service. They have already illegally frozen more than $410 billion in spending on projects that are already approved, everything from cutting greenhouse gas emissions to clean school bus programs to ecosystem restoration.
Now, during this shutdown, they plan to permanently fire even more people, with devastating losses to services that benefit us all as well as to the institutional knowledge held by these civil servants.
No matter who we are or how we make a living, we all want fairness, stability, and a healthy future for the next generation. Today, that’s at risk. Families are losing access to critical protections—from healthcare and disaster relief to clean air and safe drinking water, along with clean energy jobs and affordable electricity.
This shutdown isn’t an accident. It’s part of a larger pattern: Trump and Republicans have complete control over the federal government and have chosen to unlawfully steal billions of dollars from communities while giving handouts to billionaires.
We cannot allow these harms to continue. Congress must put enforceable guardrails in place and pursue bipartisan negotiations to protect families, communities, and our environment. ##
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