What Good Is It Electing Women to Government if the Government Is Closed?

From Cosmopolitan

Before I was elected to Congress last fall to represent California’s 25th district (parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties), I had a career working for the state’s largest provider of services for homeless people. I made sacrifices to quit a job I loved and launch a campaign, including racking up personal debt. But like so many of the women who ran, I did it because I believed our country was in crisis. I still do.

Now I’m officially a congresswoman (one of the youngest ever!). But starting work during the government shutdown has been surreal. I thought I’d be pressing for health care or universal background checks for gun purchases by now. These are the issues I ran on.

Instead, shortly after being sworn into office, I headed back home to California to meet with my constituents at a town hall meeting. There’s an air traffic control center in my district that is responsible for all the flights going in and out of southern California, so I represent a lot of federal employees who are either working without pay or furloughed. I heard from them that they were struggling to feed their families and having to decide which bills to pay. And my phone is always buzzing with texts from friends and family asking, When is the government going to re-open?

Just to clarify: Congress is open. Government shutdowns affect nearly a million federal employees, but not us, so I will get my first paycheck right on schedule, on February 1. I’m anxious about this because many of us don’t want to get paid until the rest of the government workers do. But because of my campaign, I haven’t taken a paycheck in eighteen months. I’m surviving on microwave dinners.

It’s frustrating that I haven’t been able to give my attention to the agenda I ran on. But the freshman women of Congress already have a reputation for not sitting down and shutting up. And I can assure you, none of us are waiting for permission to get involved in this fight. I’m in a group chat with many of the other freshman members, and we’re constantly strategizing how to get the government back open. We share talking points from our town halls and messaging that has been successful in our districts. One member recently told us about how they made five stops in the middle of a snowstorm to talk to constituents about the shutdown.

As for me, I’d be willing to meet with Trump himself. I’d even sign off on funding some border barriers in smart places, in conjunction with real immigration reform. I’m willing to talk with members on the other side of the aisle. I was sent here to do a job-I don’t have time for political games. I know I have to play the hand I was dealt, which happens to be Donald Trump and a government shutdown. While at times I’ve felt hampered by my inability to make change, I am also optimistic we’ll get this resolved. I know I will only get louder and louder until we do.

And we’ve already had small victories: The House was able to pass a bill that will allow people to get their tax returns during the shutdown and another one that will protect food stamps and housing assistance.

Around D.C., the mood is still quiet and grim. Some agencies are operating with skeleton crews, so parking lots sit empty. Uber drivers tell me they’ve never seen it so dead. Tourists have skipped town, since the Smithsonian and all the other museums are closed.

But at 9 p.m. this past Saturday night, I was on a group call with other members of the freshman class, a late-night huddle to figure out what we can do next. That’s exactly why it’s good to have all of these new women in government-we’re relentless.

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