It's been a chaotic week in Washington, D.C., with a narrowly averted government shutdown and the historic ouster of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. We speak with NETWORK government relations director Ronnate Asirwatham, who explains why it doesn't have to be this way—that the drama surrounding a still-possible government shutdown involves a small group of extremist legislators determined to slash funding to vital human needs programs and introduce punitive immigration provisions into the federal budget, or else.

NETWORK and allies helped keep these provisions out of the short-term deal that keeps the government funded until November 17. But the harm of these measures, to say nothing of the harm that an actual government shutdown would cause to millions of people, remains a real possibility as the weeks ahead unfold. Through all of this rings the question: What does it say for the health of U.S. democracy when the very people we elect are so fixated on stopping the functions of the federal government?

You can learn more about Ronnate Asirwatham and the averted shutdown in the links below:

From the BBC: Why government shutdowns seem to only occur in the United States: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66965637

NETWORK's Ronnate Asirwatham was named one of the 500 most influential people in Washington by Washingtonian magazine two years in a row: https://www.washingtonian.com/2023/04/27/washington-dcs-500-most-influential-people-of-2023/#Immigration

The October 2 rally for a moral budget organized by NETWORK in Louisville, Kentucky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3j6QvDZKRI

The Washington Post story Ronnate mentions about a crisis in access to nutritious food among children: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/interactive/2023/nonalcoholic-fatty-liver-disease-kids/

Just Politics is sponsored by the Claretian Missionaries: https://www.claretiansusa.org https://www.myclaret.org