Washington, D.C. - Representatives Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) and Keith Ellison (D-MN), Co-Chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), released the following statement today as House Republicans put the wellbeing of millions of working families at risk by causing an unnecessary government shutdown:  

"We are extremely disappointed that the Republican Party put the ideological demands of a few ahead of the needs of millions of working families. It's not enough for them to deny tens of millions of Americans health care; they are also deliberately preventing housing loans to low and middle income families in rural communities, halting important government research into life-threatening diseases, furloughing thousands of working Americans and stopping $1 billion in assistance to small businesses. The American people need a Congress that works for them, not against them. The Republican majority proved with their action today that working families are not their priority.”