A new White House video features everyday Americans calling on Democrats to reopen the government.
The one-minute video shows several participants — including farmers and rural workers filmed in fields and agricultural settings — urging Senate Democrats and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to end the ongoing government shutdown.
Those featured argue that the standoff is harming farmers and disrupting agricultural operations across the country.
The Daily Caller was first to report on the video.
“My name is Zach Bennett, and I’m an American farmer. Each day that this government shutdown continues, it is hurting the American farmer and hurting the American public,” he says while standing in a field.
“I’m Nikki Ellis, an American hog farmer, the government shutdown affects us even here on our farm, we need USDA rolling full steam ahead,” she noted.
Other participants in the video urged Schumer and Senate Democrats to “stop this pettiness” so Americans could return to work. One Michigan resident said the government shutdown was making life harder for working families, not easier, and called on lawmakers to act quickly to resolve the impasse.
“Every day that our government is shut down, hard-working Americans suffer,” one American said. “Senator Schumer is keeping our government shut down, which is hurting us, farmers. The Senate needs to pass the House Republicans’ clean continuing resolution and reopen our government.”
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The federal government officially shut down on Oct. 1 after Senate Democrats rejected a clean continuing resolution, instead demanding increased funding for Medicaid, including Affordable Care Act subsidies and reimbursements to states for expenses related to illegal immigrants.
Following the start of the shutdown, President Donald Trump met with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought to discuss potential layoffs and plans to reduce the size of the federal workforce.
Nine days later, Vought announced on X that mass layoffs had begun. According to a court filing, more than 4,000 federal employees had been terminated at that point.
An OMB spokesperson told the Daily Caller that the figure represented only a “snapshot” of the situation at the time of the filing, adding, “More coming.”
“Don’t listen to the desperate attempts at spin from the Democrats as to why they shut down the government – listen to hardworking Americans sharing the truth,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told the Caller in a statement.
“They know that Chuck Schumer and the Democrat Party shut down the government because they want to give free health care to illegal aliens, and now Americans are paying the price. Democrats should listen to the patriots in this video: stop hurting working Americans and reopen the government,” she added.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said on Tuesday that at least two additional Senate Democrats are in discussions to break ranks with Schumer (D-NY) and vote in favor of funding the government.
The partial government shutdown has now entered its second week. So far, only three Senate Democrats — John Fetterman (PA), Catherine Cortez Masto (NV), and Angus King (ME), an independent who caucuses with Democrats — have joined Republicans in supporting efforts to release federal funds. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) remains the lone Republican holdout.
But Thune indicated to Fox News that more Democrats are set to join Republicans in support of a clean continuing resolution to reopen the government.
The House has already approved a temporary funding measure to keep the government open through late November, but Schumer has thus far prevented most of his caucus from backing the bill.
“Well, we’re only stuck as long as a handful of Democrats decide they want to follow the leader and play politics rather than do the right thing on behalf of the American people and open up the government. That’s where we are,” Thune told Fox News host Harris Faulkner.
He revealed that Republicans now have 55 votes to fund the government when the motion goes to the floor for the ninth time, indicating that two additional Democrats support it.