The California Democrat denounces President Trump’s plans to declare a national emergency.
Indian American Congressman Ro Khanna has some sharp words to President Trump over the ongoing impasse in Washington.
As the partial government shutdown entered 19th day, making it the second-longest in the US history, the California Democrat, in a series of tweets, talked about the implications of the shutdown and how it is affecting Americans.
Khanna, who represents California’s 17th district, denounced President Trump’s plans to declare a national emergency — by sidestepping Congress — to build a border wall. The congressman wrote to his more than 78,000 Twitter followers that the real national emergencies are issues such as student debt, bankruptcy and prohibitive healthcare costs.
He tweeted:
Trump may want to declare a “national emergency” to sidestep Congress and build a border wall.
The real “national emergency” is that young Americans are drowning in student debt, families are forced into bankruptcy due to health costs & millions of our citizens are left behind.
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) January 9, 2019
Khanna, who has been very vocal about his views on building the wall, had described in December that border wall issue was a manufactured crisis. Speaking with CNBC just before the holidays, he said that the border can be protected with a lot of electronic sensors. To build a wall is a 15th century concept, he said.
On Wednesday Khanna, posted news items on his twitter feed to talk about the real crisis the shut-down seems to be creating. He wrote: “Not only did Trump leave hundreds of thousands of federal workers without pay for the holidays due to the shutdown, but he’s also frozen their 2019 pay increase. Can someone please tell me how this will grow the economy?”
In another tweet Khanna wrote: “If the shutdown continues into February, the SNAP program would face major cuts, leaving millions of Americans without the nutritional assistance they need to keep food on the table. No more games. End this shutdown now. The congressman also posted a CBS news item talking about how the shutdown could affect food stamps and tax refunds.
The SNAP or the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program offers assistance to millions of eligible, low-income individuals and families and provides economic benefits to communities.