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Today’s edition decamps from Capitol Hill to talk about how the shutdown is affecting the Washington, D.C. food truck operators who rely on a steady stream of tourists and federal workers to keep their businesses afloat. Food trucks are expensive to run; they depend on consistent foot traffic and regular customers. And because our current shutdown is one of the longest shutdowns in history (and the longest full shutdown ever), these businesses are taking a massive hit. Even worse, there is still no end in sight.
Meanwhile, some GOP senators got MAGA gift bags while visiting the White House. Handouts like these are one of many tactics Trump uses to keep his lawmakers happy. Lastly, if you’ve been following the New York City mayoral race, you’ve probably been seeing a lot of Curtis Sliwa memes. Take a load off and have fun laughing at a “true New York eccentric.” All that and more, below.
The Shutdown is Killing DC’s Food Trucks
Plus: Lunch at the White House? Leave with a bag of MAGA goodies
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“This is how slow it is. We have to fake customers!”
William, owner of the District of Columbia Coffee Co. truck based on the National Mall, made this wry observation while asking me to pose for a photo. He wanted it for use in an Instagram promotion because, frankly, anything would help at this juncture. Business has been down significantly during the government shutdown, as the tourists and federal workers that usually frequent his truck have no reason to come by.
An amiable man, William offered me a fresh cup of coffee for my trouble, but I declined as I’d already had two that morning. I handed back the empty after he got his snap. Later, I’d sneak a peek at the caption he’d added to the post: “Feeling down and come with a frown? Let’s chat for a while, you’ll leave with a smile.”
There are few smiles in D.C. these days, especially among the food-truck vendors like William. After helping him with his promotional needs, I spent some time talking with other operators on Maryland Ave. outside Washington’s L’Enfant Plaza Metro station. My goal was to find out how they were bearing under the strains of the ongoing government closure. While many are trying to keep their chins up, they also acknowledged, like William, that the situation they find themselves in is bleak.
The shutdown is now well into its fourth week. And it is taking a toll on the federal workforce, many of whom have been furloughed and some of whom endured an extra dose of pain as a result of the administration’s legally dubious “reduction in force” orders intended to permanently downsize various agencies. Federal employees who are still hoping to get through the shutdown with their jobs intact believe that once the government reopens, they will receive back pay. But none of that money (if it even comes through) will go to the food trucks that typically line the National Mall. Reliant as they are on the typically heavy tourism at Washington’s free museums and monuments that are inoperable without government funding, they are experiencing the shutdown as pure privation...
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