If you call the White House public comment phone line, you will get an unusual message.
The voicemail recording for the White House was changed Saturday morning after the Senate failed to approve a short-term spending bill Friday night, shutting down the federal government.
“Thank you for calling the White House,” a woman says in the recording. “Unfortunately, we cannot answer your call today. Congressional Democrats are holding government funding, including funding for our troops and other national security priorities, hostage to an unrelated immigration debate. Due to this obstruction, the government is shut down. In the meantime, you can leave a comment at http://www.whitehouse.gov, forward-slash contact. We look forward to taking your calls as soon as the government reopens.”
The number for the comment line is: 202-456-1111.
saw this going around and wanted to check for myself: here’s the message you hear today when you ring the White House comment line during the shutdown pic.twitter.com/sCquYj0XnX— David Mack (@davidmackau) January 20, 2018
President Trump and the White House have put the shutdown blame on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats.
After the Senate failed to pass the House-passed stopgap spending bill, effectively shutting down the federal government.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement Friday: “Senate Democrats own the Schumer Shutdown. Tonight, they put politics above our national security, military families, vulnerable children and our country’s ability to serve all Americans. We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands. This is the behavior of obstructionist losers, not legislators. When Democrats start paying our armed forces and first responders we will reopen negotiations on immigration reform. During this politically manufactured Schumer Shutdown, the President and his Administration will fight for and protect the American people.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the Senate will vote to break the Democratic filibuster no later than 1.am. Monday. The short-term spending bill that passed the House would have kept the government open until Feb. 16, but House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., said the House would accept McConnell’s legislation that funds until Feb. 8.
