FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 10/01/25
MEDIA CONTACT: Edder Díaz Martínez, Communications Director, 602-832-6039, [email protected]
WASHINGTON – Since January, the Trump Administration has consistently sought to dismantle essential government functions—from proposing budgets that slash agency funding and eliminate entire programs, to pursuing legally questionable firings, to pushing a reconciliation package that strips healthcare coverage from millions of Americans. By refusing to negotiate bipartisan agreements and threatening mass firings, this shutdown will leave our Government workers and the most vulnerable Americans at risk.
Following the lapse in government appropriations, GreenLatinos Founding President & CEO Mark Magaña releases the following statement:
“Congress must act in a bipartisan manner to end fiscal uncertainty, restore confidence in the democratic process, and ensure funding for the nation’s most pressing needs. Equally important, Congress must safeguard appropriated funds from so-called ‘pocket rescissions’ from the Executive branch that undermine the constitutional power of the purse and weaken the ability of public agencies to carry out their missions.
For Latino communities, the consequences of a shutdown are particularly severe. It threatens public health by disrupting access to healthcare and weakening protections against environmental hazards. As seen in 2019, the shutdown also poses a risk for our public lands, which are vital spaces for recreation, cultural connection, and economic activity. It also undermines environmental justice efforts by stalling the agencies responsible for protecting vulnerable communities from toxic pollution, extreme heat, and climate impacts that disproportionately affect people of color.
Failure to protect both the appropriations process and the integrity of congressionally-directed funds places the Latino community at ongoing risk of losing the social safety net and the agencies that safeguard our health, environment, and public lands.
We must fund the important functions of the federal government at needed levels as soon as possible, but without needed safeguards, we enter uncharted territory where Constitutional rules and norms are upended for generations to come.”
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About GreenLatinos
GreenLatinos (NOTE: GreenLatinos is ONE WORD) is an active comunidad of Latino/a/e leaders, emboldened by the power and wisdom of our culture, united to demand equity and dismantle racism, resourced to win our environmental, conservation, and climate justice battles, and driven to secure our political, economic, cultural, and environmental liberation.
