Elizabeth Warren to give her salary to HIAS during US government shutdown
Massachusetts senator says she’ll donate to Jewish immigration aid group amid row between Democrats and Republicans over border wall funding
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Days after launching a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren pledged her salary to HIAS, the Jewish immigration advocacy group, as long as the government is shut down.
“Over 7,000 people in Massachusetts have been sent home or are working without pay during the #TrumpShutdown,” Warren said Tuesday, New Year’s Day, on Twitter. “Until @realDonaldTrump re-opens the government, I’m donating my salary to @HIASrefugees, a nonprofit that helps refugees and makes our country stronger in the process.”
Trump has sworn not to sign a funding bill until Congress agrees to fund a wall with Mexico, which is unlikely with Democrats controlling the US House of Representatives in the new Congress. As a result, the government is entering its second week of a shutdown, keeping hundreds of thousands of workers at home. Trump wants the wall to slow illegal immigration.
Congress members and their staffs, separate from the executive branch, are not affected by the shutdown.
Over 7,000 people in Massachusetts have been sent home or are working without pay during the #TrumpShutdown. Until @realDonaldTrump re-opens the government, I'm donating my salary to @HIASrefugees, a nonprofit that helps refugees and makes our country stronger in the process.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) January 1, 2019
HIAS has taken a lead among groups opposing Trump’s immigration restrictions, including initiating and joining lawsuits against some of the president’s policies.
Warren took a key step toward launching her bid for the presidency in the waning days of 2018.
