Out of touch? Trump aides struggle with shutdown empathy

NEW YORK — One White House aide mused that the shutdown was like a paid vacation for furloughed workers. President Donald Trump's daughter-in-law said employees' "little bit of pain" was worth it for the good of the country. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross questioned why cash-poor workers were using food banks instead of taking out loans.

The president himself says workers simply need to "make adjustments."

With hundreds of thousands of federal workers going without pay during the monthlong partial government shutdown, Trump and his team, which includes the wealthiest Cabinet ever assembled, have struggled to deliver a full dose of empathy for those who are scraping to get by.

Ross set off howls when he was asked on CNBC on Thursday about reports that some of the 800,000 workers currently not receiving paychecks were going to homeless shelters to get food.

"Well, I know they are, and I don't really quite understand why," he said. "The obligations that they would undertake, say borrowing from a bank or a credit union, are, in effect, federally guaranteed. So the 30 days of pay that some people will be out ... there's no real reason why they shouldn't be able to get a loan against it."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/out-of-touch-trump-aides-struggle-with-shutdown-empathy/ar-BBSGsL1?li=BBnbcA1