With the deadline to avert a government shutdown just days away, all three evening news broadcasts went back to a familiar playbook they've used since at least the Reagan administration where they find government bureaucrats who will cry poor due to not receiving a paycheck during a potential shutdown. This isn't even the case most times since most government employees get paid on a bi-weekly basis. Unless it lasts more than two weeks, most will receive a paycheck.
This didn't stop ABC's World News Tonight from lashing out at "far-right" Republicans. ABC's Rachel Scott cried: "with the federal government on the brink of shutting down in just five days, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy turning up the heat on the handful of far-right Republicans standing in the way of a deal."
Scott then cherry-picked a bureaucrat to sell her sob story: "For 42 years, Willie Jo Price has been working in the cafeteria at the Library of Congress. A shutdown would close the building and her paycheck would stop."
Do you worry that you won't be able to pay your bills by the end of the month if Congress doesn't act?" Scott asked.
What followed was an Oscar's worthy performance:
WILLIE JO PRICE: Oh yeah. Yes, I worry about that. A whole lot. I'm trying not to cry. I'm trying not to cry.
SCOTT: And since she's considered a federal contractor when the government eventually reopens, she won't get back pay.
PRICE: We're not going to get anything. We got to try to scrape by. And you got to listen to the phone calls come because you haven't paid your bill.
Meanwhile over on CBS Evening News, White House correspondent Weijia Jiang sounded like she was in tears detailing what would happen to people who work for the government if the government shuts down:
Tonight the White House is calling this a Republican shutdown and warns that without a solution at least 4 million federal workers won't get paid, food safety inspections could be delayed and cancer research could be stalled. This afternoon President Biden said the cuts would disproportionately impact the black community and put food assistance to 7 million women and children at risk. He also put the blame squarely on the group of far-right Republicans who are holding out on funding the government, because they want deep spending cuts. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has failed numerous times now to convince those lawmakers to compromise. A task that may be even tougher now that former President Donald Trump is urging conservatives today to shut down the government if they don't get "everything they want."
Finally, on NBC Nightly News, correspondent Garrett Haake fearmongered that a government "shutdown would also slow services like food safety inspections and applications for passports and small business loans. The White House claims 10,000 kids would immediately lose access to Headstart and funding for WIC, a nutrition program that helps low-income women and young children, would dry up within days," Haake cried.
"Members of Congress who will continue to be paid have until midnight Saturday to strike a deal," Haake added.
The transcripts are below:
ABC’s World News Tonight
9/25/2023
6:40:27 p.m. EasternRACHEL SCOTT: Tonight with the federal government on the brink of shutting down in just five days, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy turning up the heat on the handful of far-right Republicans standing in the way of a deal.
SPEAKER KEVIN MCCARTHY: Well, you have to keep the government open. I mean, if people want to close the government, it only makes them weaker. Why would they want to stop paying the troops or stop paying the border agents or the Coast Guard?
SCOTT: McCarthy can only afford to lose four Republicans. And right now, he can't get his own party on the same page. The House took a six-week recess, and as soon as they returned, Republicans launched an impeachment investigation into President Biden.
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Funding the government is one of the most basic fundamental responsibilities of the Congress and if Republicans in the House don't start doing their job, we should stop electing them.
SCOTT: Complicating efforts, former President Donald Trump, who is urging those Republican rebels. Unless you get everything, shut it down. Caught in the middle, more than 4 million government workers who could lose pay, about half of them troops and military personnel. But it's not just government workers affected. For 42 years, Willie Jo Price has been working in the cafeteria at the Library of Congress. A shutdown would close the building and her paycheck would stop.
Do you worry that you won't be able to pay your bills by the end of the month if Congress doesn't act?
WILLIE JO PRICE: Oh yeah. Yes, I worry about that. A whole lot. I'm trying not to cry. I'm trying not to cry.
SCOTT: And since she's considered a federal contractor when the government eventually reopens, she won't get back pay.
PRICE: We're not going to get anything. We got to try to scrape by. And you got to listen to the phone calls come because you haven't paid your bill.
SCOTT: Today, I asked McCarthy for his message for workers like Willie Jo Price.
Can you assure them that this will be averted?
MCCARTHY: Look, I'm working everything we can to make sure this doesn't happen.
CBS Evening News
9/25/2023
6:42:26 p.m. EasternWEIJIA JIANG: Tonight the White House is calling this a Republican shutdown and warns that without a solution at least 4 million federal workers won't get paid, food safety inspections could be delayed and cancer research could be stalled. This afternoon President Biden said the cuts would disproportionately impact the black community and put food assistance to 7 million women and children at risk. He also put the blame squarely on the group of far-right Republicans who are holding out on funding the government, because they want deep spending cuts. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has failed numerous times now to convince those lawmakers to compromise. A task that may be even tougher now that former President Donald Trump is urging conservatives today to shut down the government if they don't get "everything they want."
NBC Nightly News
9/25/2023
6:37:19 p.m. EasternGARRETT HAAKE: At a Washington warehouse volunteers are preparing for the practical impact of the political impasse looming five miles south on Capitol Hill.
RADHA MUTHIAH (PRESIDENT & CEO, CAPITOL AREA FOOD BANK): We know that when budgets are stretched food is the first thing to go.
HAAKE: The Capitol Area Food Bank is now planning for a possible surge of 100,000 people in the D.C. region needing food assistance soon if the government shuts down this weekend.
MUTHIAH: Think about the cleaning crews, the food service. You know, those who have food trucks outside of government buildings and offices.
[...]
JESSICA LAPOINTE: We're doing a lot of belt-tightening.
HAAKE: Wisconsin Social Security claims specialist and single mom Jessica Lapointe expects to work without pay.
This has to be hard to discuss with your family.
LAPOINTE: Yeah. I have an 11-year-old son who has been asking to go to Disney World for most of his life. We're looking at having to postpone that trip in order to just stay afloat during this unknown period.
HAAKE: A shutdown would also slow services like food safety inspections and applications for passports and small business loans. The White House claims 10,000 kids would immediately lose access to Headstart and funding for WIC, a nutrition program that helps low-income women and young children, would dry up within days. Members of Congress who will continue to be paid have until midnight Saturday to strike a deal.
