"The partial government shutdown beginning now is completely unnecessary, profoundly harmful to hundreds of thousands of families, and totally, 100 percent avoidable. It’s shameful that the President would make this happen to so many government workers right before the holidays.

"This isn’t about our security. It’s about a President motivated by hate, bigotry and perceived political self-interest having a temper tantrum because he didn’t get everything he wanted. A border wall is wasteful, unnecessary, harmful to the environment, and deservedly unpopular. 

“Nobody should forget that President Trump promised, over and over, that America’s taxpayers would not have to pay for his immoral wall. Nobody should forget that Republicans have controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress for two full years, and should have finished the budget months ago, before Fiscal Year 2019 began. And nobody should forget that this immoral wall is part of a set of cruel, counterproductive, deeply unpopular Trump immigration policies that include using tear gas on moms and babies, separating asylum-seeking moms from their children, and fomenting hatred and bigotry against immigrants.

“We commend those elected leaders, led specifically by Minority Leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, for standing strong against wasteful spending and immoral policies -- and we urge them to continue to do so. We want our tax dollars to go to education, health care, job training, housing and other essential services that America’s families urgently need, not to fund the President’s wall or support his callous, indefensible anti-immigration policies.”