‘It’s a no-brainer.’ Westchester reacts to averted government shutdown, Bowman’s fire alarm mishap
By: Jade NashOct 1, 2023, 9:40pm Updated on: Oct 1, 2023
The government will remain open through Nov. 17 now that Congress has passed a short-term funding bill.
News 12 got reactions to the bill that helped the government avoid a shutdown. AJ Woodson is the editor-in-chief of Black Westchester Magazine. He thinks the government should always remain running and never come close to a shutdown.
"It's a no-brainer," Woodson said. "I don't even know what to say."
Although Woodson said he would have preferred if Congress reached a long-term funding bill, he admitted that he was glad that elected officials at least came together for a short-term bill to avoid a shutdown.
"There would have been too [many] repercussions, on both sides, and the Republicans would have had a lot to deal with if they let the country shut down," Woodson said.
The short-term bill includes funding for natural disaster relief, but it doesn't give additional dollars to Ukraine.
"It's disappointing, particularly coming from the Republican Party, which historically and traditionally had been strong on international issues, strong on foreign policy, and certainly no friend of Vladimir Putin and the Russians," John Murtagh, an independent political commentator, said.
"I know Congressman Bowman, he's a good man. He's a decent man. Frankly, the story that he got confused when he pulled the fire alarm in Congress yesterday doesn't really add up -- particularly, for a career middle school principal to say he doesn't know what a fire alarm does," Murtagh said.
In a statement issued to News 12, Congressman Bowman said in part, "I want to be very clear, this was not me, in any way, trying to delay any vote. It was the exact opposite -- I was trying urgently to get to a vote, which I ultimately did, and joined my colleagues in a bipartisan effort to keep our government open."
