Exclusive: employees would be reimbursed for fees paid to childcare facilities under plans initiated by Ilhan Omar

Congressional Democrats are introducing a bill that would provide childcare relief to federal workers affected by the shutdown of the federal government, as it drags on through a second week.

Parents would be reimbursed for fees paid to childcare facilities during the shutdown under plans initiated by Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.

Any federal employee who has been furloughed, or remains working through the shutdown without pay, would be entitled to support under the Federal Worker Childcare Protection Act of 2025.

  • Sconrad122@lemmy.world
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    18 hours ago

    I very much doubt you will find an example of Ilhan attacking Mamdani or childcare support. This is at least the second time she’s tried to pass this bill, the first was during Trump’s first term. A majority of federal workers are not furloughed during a shutdown, although it’s hard to find numbers on how many of those are working with pay vs. without pay. I’m positive she also spoke out when Republicans and Manchin and Sinema killed the childcare tax credits from the build back better bill that reduced child poverty to record lows, she’s pretty consistently one of the good ones.

    It’s also worth pointing out that this is as much a messaging tactic as a real bill. There ain’t no way Republicans are passing this bill, but having this and other bills like it on the table makes them put up or shut up if they try to attack Democrats for holding government workers’ livelihoods hostage over the shutdown. Having it focus on government workers increases the strength of that message, even if broader relief would still be necessary if this passes.

    Introducing bills like this, and thus establishing a counter narrative of “this is what the Democrats want for the country, as opposed to what you are getting today from the Republicans”, is miles better than the Schumer strategy to date of doing his level best to agree to all of the Republican demands in order to make living under the Trump presidency as unbearable as possible in the hopes that people will vote Democrat for change despite Schumer putting no daylight between Democratic and Republican positions.