PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — With the federal shutdown about to enter its second week, Philadelphia’s congressional delegation urged their Republican colleagues on Tuesday, at a rally on Independence Mall, to negotiate on a solution.
Both parties appear locked in their positions without a clear resolution in sight.
“I want to stress how completely odd and unique this situation is,” said U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, who had been through a few federal shutdowns in his five terms in the House of Representatives.
Every single time, he said, negotiations to end it went on around the clock. This time, however, he said Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson simply cancelled two weeks of sessions, content to let federal employees work without pay or to languish.
“That is a disgrace, an absolute disgrace,” he said.
U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon went further. “Republicans have declared war on the American people,” she said.
Boyle, Scanlon and retiring U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans were joined by Philip Glover, president of the American Federation of Government Employees District 3, which represents federal workers in Pennsylvania and Delaware. Glover agreed that the solution to the shutdown is a return to negotiations.
“Telling the other party, ‘We’re not going to talk to you,’ is not the way to get anything done in Washington. It’s not how it works,” said Glover, who also condemned threats of mass firings made to his fellow union members.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, at a press conference at the Capitol, warned that the shutdown will have a direct impact on the pockets of federal workers — and blamed Democrats for digging in their heels.
“The consequences for the American people are very real and this just has to stop,” said Thune.
Boyle said the delegation is returning to Washington in hopes of finding someone willing to resume talks.
“I’ll be going to Washington tomorrow, walking around the empty halls of Congress trying to find a Republican who’s willing to negotiate with me,” he said. “The only way this is going to end is through negotiation.”