The Trump administration has said while the federal government is shutdown, tariff revenue will be used to fund a key federal program that provides food aid and other services to nearly 7 million low-income women and young children. But as the shutdown entered its second week last week, Republicans and Democrats blamed each other for that program being in a financial bind.
Democrats and Republicans have sparred over Democratic demands to address health care issues in a government funding bill, with the standoff leading to the first government shutdown since 2019. We’ll provide the facts on two talking points each side is using to blame the other for the shutdown.
The federal government is heading to a shutdown, if Congress doesn’t pass funding legislation by the time the clock strikes midnight on Sept. 30. We’ll explain what that means and what government services could be affected.
In an interview with Robert Mangino of KDKA in Pittsburgh, FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely discusses our recent stories on Sen. Kamala Harris, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and President Donald Trump.
The partial government shutdown will reduce real GDP by $3 billion, on net, the CBO estimates. At least twice, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has said CBO put the cost at $11 billion, neglecting to explain that the agency figures the economy will regain $8 billion of that this year.
Nancy Pelosi did not spend $497 million on office renovations during the government shutdown. That claim originated from a self-described satirical website, but it has now spread to other websites and social media posts without a disclaimer.
There is no evidence that “18 million illegal immigrants” received “government checks” during the government shutdown this month, contrary to Facebook posts.
A claim that the Bush administration approved $50 billion for construction of a border wall is false.
The weekslong partial government shutdown has led to around 800,000 federal employees not working or working without pay. It also has led to some false or questionable claims from Democrats about the shutdown’s impact on a host of federal services.
Viral Facebook posts say that former President Barack Obama “shut down the government to force Obamacare.” That’s misleading.