‘What they’re doing is punishing the American people’

RIO RANCHO - During a Rio Rancho town hall with 80 attendees Monday afternoon, U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) said she does not see an upcoming end to the federal government shutdown as it stretches into its fourth week.

“I’m not optimistic that we’ll be out of the shutdown soon,” she told people gathered in the Sandoval County Commission chambers. “They canceled votes this week. We’re scheduled to have votes next week, but in the interviews I heard today from the Republican leadership, they said that they’re not compromising and they’re not reopening the government.”

As of Monday, the shutdown, which began Oct. 1, became the third longest full government shutdown in history. It began after Congress was unable to find a bipartisan path forward on a stopgap spending bill. New Mexico Democrats said they would not budge until Republicans agree to extend tax credits for people who purchase health insurance in the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

Town hall attendees posed a wide range of questions on the shutdown and more, including: the potential impacts to federal retiree benefits; how to address government mistrust; and the Trump administration’s plan to send $40 billion to Argentina. The attendees also aired concerns about the size of the federal deficit and the country’s credit rating.

The Monday event followed Saturday’s No Kings protests in New Mexico and across the country, in which organizers said millions of Americans took to the streets protesting President Donald Trump and his administration’s policies. Stansbury, who attended the Albuquerque rally, said the No Kings protests constitute one of the best tools to increase political pressure, and urged attendees “to really take care of each other, keep having courage and we’re going to have to keep standing up and speaking out.”

Attendee Dan Donahue, 57, an independent voter, posed the federal deficit question, and told Source NM that Stansbury provided “all the answers and more.” A lawyer, Donahue said he felt the need to attend the town hall to address what he sees as “unconstitutional methods” by the Trump administration to consolidate power in the executive.

“While I agree with some of the goals of the Trump administration, the methods that they are using to achieve these goals are just unconstitutional,” he said.

During the town hall, Stansbury told attendees the blame for the shutdown lies solely on the shoulders of Republicans, noting that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) has full control of the calendar.

“If the Speaker of the House wanted to pass the budget today, he could literally, literally call us back right this minute,” Stansbury said.

Stansbury said, in the meantime, her office would soon start hosting resource fairs for federal workers who are working without pay or people concerned about looking for food assistance or healthcare.

“What they’re doing is punishing the American people, and we know that it’s going to harm real families,” Stansbury said.

Stansbury credited New Mexico state lawmakers for passing legislation to address federal impacts during the two-day Oct. 1 special session, and said the state was looking into legal options to address a recent memo from the federal government warning that it would end funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in November.

“There will absolutely be legal action against the administration trying to essentially impound funding,” Stansbury told Source NM in an interview after the town hall.

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