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Every day that the government remains closed is another day “the American people suffer new losses, and businesses remain stuck in neutral”—so Congress must end the shutdown now, the NAM and its official state partners told Senate and House leaders on Tuesday. 

What’s going on: “An open and fully functioning government is essential to the growth of the American economy, the success of manufacturers across the country and the well-being of our communities,” the NAM and more than 30 of its state manufacturing association partners explained to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). 

• “When the government is shuttered, it stifles our ability to invest in our communities and our people. And it diminishes faith in our institutions.”  

The impact: The shutdown, which entered its 29th day on Wednesday, has furloughed hundreds of thousands of federal workers and halted critical safety inspections of new power plants and manufacturing facilities. 

•  Life-sustaining products aren’t getting to Americans who need them, and desperately needed new power sources aren’t being added to the grid, the groups continued. 

• Furthermore, “[p]ermitting becomes next to impossible, and housing projects, retail construction, data centers, manufacturing production lines, infrastructure projects and other job-creating investments cannot break ground.” 

What must be done—immediately: The government must reopen “without further delay, and a clean continuing resolution is the swiftest and most effective way to achieve that,” the organizations told the congressional leaders. 

Driving the news: In an exclusive to Fox Business, who covered the letter, NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons laid it out plainly:  

• “Every day the government is closed, job-creating projects are stalled, supply chains are disrupted, permits halted, product approvals and facility inspections are delayed and safety approvals on which American families rely are put on hold.  

• White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson also amplified the Fox Business story on X.