WASHINGTON, D.C. and NEW YORK (October 8, 2025) – Leaders of the nation’s top civil rights organizations issued the following statement in response to the federal government shutdown:
This shutdown is not just a political impasse—it’s a failure of leadership. We call on Congress and the White House to protect
Americans from skyrocketing healthcare premiums and ensure that taxpayer dollars are used to serve the public—not withheld as leverage against the immediate reopening of the government.
The ongoing government shutdown is causing real harm to communities across the country, and it’s time for those in power
to take responsibility and pass legislation that would safeguard critical services for millions of Americans, including Black communities.
The White House has the duty to show leadership and bring the parties to the table to end this crisis, restore government
operations, preserve millions of Americans’ access to affordable healthcare, and ensure that federal funding is used for its intended purposes—not held hostage for political gain or rescinded in contradiction of Congress’s spending power under the U.S. Constitution.
Every day the shutdown continues, Americans are suffering in numerous ways including:
- Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been furloughed or are working without pay, impacting many Black people who have devoted their careers to public service.
- Local communities are losing access to over $60 billion in federal funding, jeopardizing essential services and infrastructure.
- Veterans are being denied critical support. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has halted transition assistance, career counseling, and outreach. VA regional offices are closed, call centers are offline, and even cemetery services—including headstone placements and pre-need burial applications—have ceased.
- Military families are facing financial strain. Active-duty service members and civilian employees are working without pay, making it harder to cover basic living expenses.
- Women and children who rely on the WIC nutrition program, including many Black families, could lose access to food assistance within days, at a time when grocery prices remain unaffordable for many.
- Patients at military treatment facilities are seeing elective surgeries and procedures postponed or canceled, adding stress and uncertainty to already difficult health situations.
- National parks are partially closed, with gated areas locked and services suspended, impacting tourism and local economies.
- Federal research and public health efforts at the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control have ground to a halt, delaying progress on life-saving initiatives.
- The Food and Drug Administration is unable to review new drug applications, stalling innovation and access to treatments.
- The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s ability to process grants, inspect properties, fight housing discrimination, and provide housing assistance is severely diminished.
- Census Bureau activities, which support the fair, accurate, and democratic counting and representation of the American people, will mostly cease.
- Regular Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspections are ceased, thus potentially jeopardizing the health and safety of our workforce.
- Social Security and Medicare services may be delayed, leaving seniors and vulnerable populations without timely support.
- Federal courts are likely to run out of funding on October 17, denying people access to justice.
The American people deserve better. It’s time to put partisanship aside and put the country first.
Marc H. Morial
President and Chief Executive Officer
National Urban League
Reverend Al Sharpton
Founder and President
National Action Network
Melanie Campbell
President and Chief Executive Officer
National Coalition on Black Civic Participation
and Convener Black Women’s Roundtable
Derrick Johnson
President and Chief Executive Officer
NAACP
Janai Nelson
President and Director-Counsel
NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc.
Damon Hewitt
President and Executive Director
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Shavon Arline-Bradley
President and Chief Executive Officer
National Council of Negro Women
