Washington, D.C.—People For the American Way today released the following statement from PFAW Vice President for Communications and Research Drew Courtney in response to media reports that senior Trump officials would get an annual raise of about $10,000 while their subordinates were furloughed or working without pay during the shutdown.

“First, Trump’s mean-spirited, self-interested effort to play politics with people’s lives caused a government shutdown that forced huge numbers of federal workers to be furloughed or to be forced to work without pay.

“Then, Trump froze those same workers’ salaries.

“Now, the bosses Trump and his team hand-picked to supervise those same federal workers are about to get an annual raise of about $10,000. The words, ‘ludicrously unfair’ and ‘outrageous’ barely suffice to describe this situation. No government should be run like this.

“Trump should immediately drop his insistence on a racist border wall, reverse his decision to freeze worker pay, and accept Democratic proposals to reopen the government while he still has anyone willing to work for him.”

People For the American Way is a progressive advocacy organization founded to fight right-wing extremism and defend constitutional values including free expression, religious liberty, equal justice under the law, and the right to meaningfully participate in our democracy.

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