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Shutdown Excuses Don’t Add Up: Trump Having ‘Fun’ with Overseas Bailouts, Punishing Workers at Home

AFL-CIO
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MEMORANDUM

TO: Interested Parties
FROM: AFL-CIO’s Department of People Who Work for a Living
DATE: Oct. 20, 2025
RE: Shutdown Excuses Don’t Add Up: Trump Having ‘Fun’ with Overseas Bailouts, Punishing Workers at Home

Summary

Over two weeks into the shutdown, more than 2 million workers have missed a paycheck. Of those, 750,000 are locked out of their jobs and 1.4 million are doing their jobs without pay. Meanwhile, the president continues to refuse to do his. As millions of Americans open letters warning of health care cost spikes they can’t afford, the White House reports President Trump is having “fun.”

Last week, days after attempting to fire furloughed workers under the false claim that it would free up funds for essential programs at home, the Trump administration announced it was moving $40 billion overseas to bail out a foreign government. Instead of using that $40 billion at home to stop price hikes on working families, cover four months of military pay, or ensure nearly 7 million moms and kids can access the federal nutrition WIC program during the shutdown, Trump will ship it overseas. And, while President Trump and his allies spent “weeks” crafting this $40 billion overseas bailout with foreign agents, while refusing to meet with congressional leaders and end the shutdown here at home. 

As federal workers miss paychecks and millions are faced with skyrocketing health care costs, President Trump and his allies are peddling excuses that simply don’t add up.

The $40 Billion Choice

The Trump administration says there’s no money to protect America’s workers from health care price spikes we can’t afford, but found $40 billion to bail out a foreign government. As the American government entered day 15 of a shutdown, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent bragged that the administration worked “for weeks” to craft an overseas bailout––the very same weeks the president refused to meet with congressional leaders to end the shutdown.
What could $40 billion at home have covered?

  • Nearly two years of Affordable Care Act subsidies.
  • More than four months of active duty military pay.
  • Eight weeks of wages for federal employees.
  • Every dollar of the nearly $28 billion in grants for more than 200 infrastructure and energy projects that the White House froze during the shutdown.
  • Nearly $150,000 for every single farm in the country that grows soybeans.    

The message is clear: the Trump administration is putting America’s workers last. The president and his administration will find $40 billion to bail out a foreign government, but not a dime to stop our health care costs from spiking. They will spend weeks meeting with foreign agents, but not a moment meeting with congressional leaders to end the shutdown here at home.

Trump’s Shutdown Strategy: Killing Jobs, Wasting Money, Stealing Your Paycheck 

The Trump administration treated America’s workers as pawns before the shutdown even began, with Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought threatening to illegally fire furloughed workers in an unprecedented move designed to inflict maximum pain on workers. 

Then on Day One, the administration started canceling nearly $28 billion in energy and infrastructure projects, killing hundreds of thousands of jobs across industries, from transportation and construction to state and local government. 

After attempting to fire more than 4,000 federal workers––and facing bipartisan backlash––the administration resorted to false claims that they “had to” fire furloughed workers to fund essential services. But firing workers who aren’t being paid doesn’t free up a dime—it only pushes families further into a financial crisis.

Thanks to these illegal firings, there is no one to investigate housing discrimination, students with disabilities will be left in the lurch with only a skeleton crew left to oversee special education across the country, and essential workers who keep us safe from diseases like Ebola were kicked out of their jobs.

As the administration threatens to withhold back pay from furloughed workers (required under the law the president signed himself in 2019) and illegally fire 10,000 more federal workers, millions of Americans are being hit with notices of doubling premiums and higher health care costs. 

Polling Shows Workers Aren’t Fooled

Workers see exactly what’s happening: the Trump administration is trying to use us as pawns in their political game. Before the shutdown, 35% of Americans blamed President Trump and his allies for the shutdown. Now, as the administration brags the president is having “fun” using workers as pawns in a shutdown he created, that number is climbing. 

It’s clear to us what’s going on here: The Trump administration is squeezing working people until we abandon our demands to address the mounting health care crisis. 

The Bottom Line

America’s workers aren’t fooled by this shutdown spin that doesn’t hold up to basic math. Firing furloughed workers doesn’t fund WIC. Canceling $28 billion in job-creating infrastructure and energy projects doesn’t kick-start a “blue-collar boom.” 

President Trump says there is no money to stop our health care costs from doubling, no money for WIC, no money for our troops. But, somehow he found $40 billion to bail out a foreign government. 

The math doesn’t add up. And neither do the excuses. It’s time for President Trump to fund the government, fix the health care crisis and put America’s working people first.

Contact: Onotse Omoyeni, 202-637-5018