The Battle of Bunker Hill Monument on Breeds Hill in Charlestown.
Photo by Chensiyuan, courtesy of Wikipedia.
Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson appears to be the lone Massachusetts state official taking President Donald Trump’s side in the shutdown of many federal government services in a dispute over Trump’s proposed border wall.
Hodgson, a Republican who often emphasizes border security and cooperation with federal immigration authorities, stopped short of praising the shutdown and didn’t mention Trump by name in a written statement Saturday. But he praised the wall and criticized Congress.
“The people of our nation and the Sheriffs who have promised to protect them and uphold our laws cannot wait any longer for Congress to fund the wall and secure our borders so we can keep our neighborhoods safe from criminal illegal aliens,” Hodgson said in a written statement. “… Congress must act now on the funding for the border wall. Failure to do so will confirm again … Members’ total disregard for families who continue[] to be victimized by criminal illegal aliens.”
The president on Friday refused to sign a continuing resolution that would have kept funding all federal government agencies, in an attempt to try to prod Congress to approve $5 billion to build an extensive border wall with Mexico. Some observers think it’s Trump’s last chance to get the wall, since Republicans still have majorities in both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. In January the Democrats will take over the House.
Democrats in Massachusetts hammered the president for shutting down the government.
U.S. Representative Seth Moulton (D-Salem) noted that Trump’s problem is not so much with Democrats as with Republicans. Since Republicans control both chambers of Congress, they could vote to fund the border wall, but during the first two years of the Trump administration enough Republicans have resisted the wall to prevent it from happening.
Bottom line: The President of the United States just shut down our government in a political stunt to get American taxpayers to foot the bill for his ineffective border wall that he promised Mexico would pay for. And he can’t even get enough votes in his own party to support him.
U.S. Representative Katherine Clark (D-Melrose), vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, which is a leadership position, called the shutdown “dangerous” and “unnecessary.”
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Cambridge), who is preparing to run for president, called the wall “stupid.”
This shutdown was completely avoidable. Now, hundreds of thousands of federal employees will go without a paycheck over the holidays as @realDonaldTrump throws another temper tantrum over his stupid wall. Republicans’ latest attempt to divide and distract us.
U.S. Senator Ed Markey (D-Malden) went one better, calling the wall “racist.”
Despite Donald Trump’s repeated promises, Mexico was never going to pay for his racist wall and now, 800,000 federal workers won’t get paid this Christmas season. It’s consistent with his record: he has far more experience in not paying employees than in fulfilling his promises.
U.S. Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III (D-Brookline) blamed the shutdown not just on Trump but also on Republicans in Congress.
The self-proclaimed party of ‘patriotism & strength’ is willing to shutdown the American government because they’re scared of being tweeted at by a bully who gets his marching orders from the hosts of Fox & Friends.
Governor Charlie Baker, a Republican, had not posted online any statements about the shutdown as of mid-afternoon Saturday. A spokesman for the governor could not immediately be reached for comment.
During the shutdown federal employees deemed unessential are being furloughed without pay. Federal employees deemed essential have been ordered to stay on the job.
In Massachusetts, the shutdown applies to the Battle of Bunker Hill historic site, which is run by the National Park Service, a federal agency. The Bunker Hill Monument and the museum across the street from it, which are normally open almost every day of the year, are closed.
But other Freedom Trail sites not operated by the federal government remain open, such as the Old State House, Old South Meeting House, the Paul Revere House, and Old North Church.
The USS Constitution in Charlestown also remains open, since military personnel are considered essential. The U.S. Navy runs Old Ironsides, which technically is a commissioned warship afloat on active duty.
Here’s an image from the National Park Service web site for the Battle of Bunker Hill site:
