Nurses charge Trump administration with manufacturing shutdown to pursue agenda to privatize public services

National Nurses United (NNU), the nation's largest union and professional association of registered nurses, with more than 225,000 RNs, is calling on Congress to pass H.R. 5450/S. 2882. The Continuing Appropriations and Extensions and other Matters Act of 2026 would not only restart the government but also save lives by restoring health care funding and assistance, while ending the Trump administration’s unprecedented power over government spending.

Nurses are very clear that Republicans are to blame for any government shutdown; they manufactured this impasse by refusing to negotiate with Democrats as a means to further degrade and gut critical public services and to advance an agenda to privatize vital functions currently provided by the federal government for the greater public good.

Trump’s and the Republicans’ track record show they have zero interest in maintaining a government to serve its people. With Republicans controlling both houses in Congress, and the White House, President Trump has already cut some 150,000 government employees who provided critical services across the country and around the globe. Trump is using this shutdown to continue to slash government programs and fire federal workers. Trump has said he could “get rid of a lot of things that we didn’t want, and they’d be Democrat things.” Nurses expect the administration would bring its axe down on programs it has already attacked, including the Social Security Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and more. These cuts would further set the stage for privatization.

The only departments where Trump and the Republicans have increased resources are in areas such as homeland security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which are focused on attacking U.S. residents and making war on Democrat-run cities.

“This administration wants to privatize and therefore monetize public services, without regard for working people and vulnerable communities,” said Mary Turner, RN and NNU president. “The Trump administration’s only desire appears to be to placate and please the billionaire class and to declare war on our country’s own people. This was abundantly evident in the passage of H.R. 1 which gave corporations and the ultra-rich huge tax breaks while stealing health care coverage from 16 million people.”

Nurses support the Democratic continuing resolution proposal because not only does it curb Trump’s power and keep the government open, it reverses the impending health care cuts from H.R. 1, the budget reconciliation bill that Republicans passed in July.

“When the Republicans passed H.R. 1, they voted to upend an already fragile system,” said Turner. “If Congress doesn’t act immediately to reverse these cuts, our patients will suffer from going without care. They will have to ration their prescriptions and face bankruptcy just to see a doctor. Experts predict more than 50,000 people will die unnecessarily each year because of these cuts.”

Additionally, the massive Medicaid cuts in H.R. 1 will cause economic devastation for independent and community hospitals, which will lead to cuts in services and even hospital closures. 

National Nurses United sent a letter to members of Congress expressing our concerns and demands. That letter can be accessed here.

National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.