Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski laid into Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross for his remarks questioning the hardship workers faced because of the shutdown, deeming the wealthy Cabinet member “clearly out of touch” and his remarks “disconnected from reality.”
The Alaska senator has been one of the most outspoken opponents of President Donald Trump’s failed strategy of forcing a shutdown to get money for a border wall, an impasse that ended on Friday. But she told a pair of reporters that Ross’s Thursday comments that he doesn’t “quite understand why” workers were forced to go to food banks was a clear example of people in Washington being insulated from the real world.
“We saw yesterday the insensitivity of certain remarks a Cabinet secretary that demonstrated to me that he is just so clearly of out of touch, with men and women who get up every day and go do oftentimes pretty menial work at some of these jobs,” Murkowski said. “I’m talking about the secretary of Commerce. And you know what he said was so disconnected from reality that it stunned me.”
Ross said on CNBC that because those workers would get back pay that is “federally guaranteed,” they should be able to take a loan out on those future wages.
“I know the names of the people that take out the trash at night, and I know the names of the TSA agents. And I like that,” Murkowski said. “Maybe this is just a reminder to us all. Don’t lose touch with who you work for. I think the fact that we allowed this to go on for 35 days was really unconscionable.”
Ross also drew criticism from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), who said he was “amazed” the Senate confirmed someone who doesn’t “understand basic economics.” Ross was confirmed with bipartisan support in 2017, including from Murkowski, but has been mocked as tone-deaf several times. He also used a can of soup and a beer can to demonstrate that tariffs would not hurt most consumers in 2018.
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine
Source: https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/25/murkowski-wilbur-ross-out-of-touch-1128416
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Burgess Everett
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