Washington Governor Blasts Trump For Unpaid Workers: 'Don't Tell Me He Cares'

Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington lashed out at President Donald Trump for blocking states from dipping into unemployment benefits to pay federal employees in the second month of the partial government shutdown.

Inslee described himself as “outraged” in a CNN interview Tuesday, saying the president had thwarted his efforts to lend workers a hand in desperate times.

“This is really diminishing services and it really is an outrage, particularly because we’re trying to step in in the states to help these hardworking people with unemployment compensation and the president’s trying to stop us from paying these people out of state unemployment compensation funds,” he told anchor Don Lemon. “So don’t tell me he cares about these people. He’s trying to stop us from helping them out.”

As 800,000 workers gear up for what will likely be another missed paycheck this week, Inslee lamented that “their families that are suffering,” calling for more pressure on GOP senators who he feels ”are enabling this president.”

According to Reuters, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced Tuesday that a vote on reopening the government is set for this week, yet Trump’s proposal to do so has already been dismissed by Democrats.

To get the government up and running again, the president is asking for $5.7 billion to build a border wall in exchange for a three-year extension on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, otherwise known as DACA.

Critics say it’s a meaningless offer seeing as courts have already upheld the initiative while Trump has previously expressed clear opposition to safeguarding its future.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.