Federal Workers Line Up at Food Banks After Dem Whip Calls Them 'Leverage'

A Washington, DC-area food bank serving federal workers impacted by the government shutdown ran out of items on Friday morning while people were still waiting in line — one day after House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) called suffering families a “leverage” to use against Republicans.

A “massive line” of government employees and contractors gathered at a Capital Area Food Bank drive in northern Virginia to get much-needed groceries before the organization ran out of food “just over an hour into distribution,” PBS News’ Lisa Desjardins reported:

Desjardins was in a car with a woman who “teared up after hearing this,” she noted.

Meanwhile in Prince George’s County, Maryland, NPR reported seeing “middle-class professionals lined up for boxes of pasta, protein and produce to fe