Swalwell: Republicans have chosen protecting Trump over opening government

CASTRO VALLEY, Calif. (KRON) –The government shutdown has entered its third week with no resolution in sight, leaving hundreds of thousands of federal workers unpaid.

While active-duty military personnel received their pay, many other federal employees are struggling to make ends meet, with some considering loans or turning to food banks.

At a news conference Wednesday, East Bay Congressman Eric Swalwell (D-Livermore) criticized Republicans for their unwillingness to negotiate.

“But they don’t want to make a deal,” he said. “Speaker Johnson has chosen protecting Donald Trump from being exposed for how close he is to Jeffrey Epstein over opening government and lowering health care costs.”

“Like I said, a lot of our folks live paycheck to paycheck. Some people will probably have to leave federal service—get other jobs just to pay their bills and feed their families,” said John McMeel, Vice President and Chief Steward of Federal Employees Chapter 20.

The shutdown began after Democrats rejected President Trump’s proposed bill, which they referred to as the “Big Beautiful Bill,” and a short-term funding fix for healthcare.

Democrats have insisted on including healthcare subsidies in the funding bill, but President Trump and Republican leaders have refused to negotiate on this issue until the government is reopened.

A federal judge in San Francisco has temporarily blocked the administration from firing federal employees during the shutdown, providing some relief to workers concerned about job security.

President Trump has directed the Pentagon to use all available funds to ensure that active-duty troops are paid, but this directive does not extend to other federal workers.

According to Swalwell, some Americans could see healthcare costs jump by as much as 300% by November 1, if the shutdown doesn’t end.

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KRON4. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KRON4 staff before being published.