Congress and Trump continue as normal despite government shutdown

While thousands of federal workers go without pay, the government shutdown has had little impact on the day-to-day on Capitol Hill and in the White House.

WASHINGTON — On Day 15 of the government shutdown, a U.S. senator hosted a well-attended birthday party for his bulldog.

Dozens of Hill staffers lined up inside the Capitol on Wednesday to wish Republican Sen. Jim Justice’s pup a happy birthday as she sat under a balloon arch wearing a pink and white hat. They noshed on cakes and dozens of cake pops shaped in 6-year-old Babydog’s likeness.

At the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, President Donald Trump gathered some of the richest people in the country for dinner at the White House. There were beef Wellington, butterscotch ice cream and gold-rimmed china but no mention of the government shutdown during Trump’s 37-minute-long remarks thanking his guests for their donations for a new White House ballroom.

Judge blocks Trump administration layoffs, calling them illegal as government shutdown continues04:01“This is really a knockout crowd,” Trump said Wednesday evening, noting that their collective donations have exceeded the ballroom’s $250 million price tag.

And so it has been for the power brokers in Washington during a government shutdown that appears to have no end in sight. While thousands of federal workers are furloughed — or fired — and trying to stay afloat without paychecks, the ones responsible for the shutdown are literally, and figuratively, eating cake.