"The President—finally—did the right thing and opened the federal government for the next three weeks after a completely unnecessary 35 day shutdown. At last, federal government workers can receive a month of backpay and at least one more check before the shutdown clock runs out again. Children of federal workers will not have to worry for the next three weeks about their families having enough money for their rents or mortgages, for trips to the doctor and even for three square meals. And schools will not have to worry whether federal school lunch program funding will be cut-off in March.
"But today is only a temporary reprieve. It gives federal workers eight weeks of pay but no guarantee that they will not face another shutdown come February 15th. In sum, we will be back to the future on February 15th absent a deal on the President's border wall or an agreement to fund the federal government for the rest of this fiscal year.
"Let's not do this again. Let's take the security of federal workers, their families and our schools off of the table and pass legislation that funds the federal government until September 30th. Let's do the smart long-term thing now and not start another shutdown clock in three weeks. Time for everyone to move on and get back to work -- permanently."