U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Thursday that he doesn’t understand why some federal workers who have been furloughed or are working without pay during the ongoing partial government shutdown are having to turn to food banks and homeless shelters to feed themselves and their families.
“I know they are, and I don’t really quite understand why,” Ross said in an interview on CNBC.
Ross, whose net worth in 2016 was estimated to be $2.9 billion, said those workers should seek loans because “the banks and the credit unions should be making credit available to them.”
“True, the people might have to pay a little bit of interest,” Ross added. “But the idea that it’s paycheck or zero is not a really valid idea.”
The commerce secretary also downplayed the number of federal employees affected by the shutdown, now in its 34th day.
“Put it in perspective, you’re talking about 800,000 workers,” he said. “And while I feel sorry for the individuals that have hardship cases, 800,000 workers if they never got their pay — which is not the case, they will eventually get it — but if they never got it, you’re talking about a third of a percent on our GDP. So, it’s not like it’s a gigantic number overall.”
Ross said it was “disappointing” that some of the affected federal employees ordered back to work by President Trump are refusing to do so.
