As the government shutdown drags on, the Colorado Times Recorder reached out to U.S. senators and House members representing Coloradans to find out whether their offices are still open, their staff are at work, and how often they’ve come to their D.C. offices since the shutdown began.
Through a combination of emails, phone calls, and in-person visits to members’ offices on Nov. 7, we learned that offices are still busy with constituent casework and that most members of Colorado’s congressional delegation have visited D.C. multiple times since the shutdown began.
The government shutdown is now the longest on record, eclipsing the previous record of December 2018 to January 2019, set during the first Trump administration.
Sen. Michael Bennett (D)
Bennett’s office has remained open, continues to process casework, and perform other services for constituents, Sophie Ulin, press secretary for the senator, told the Colorado Times Recorder in an email.
“The Senator has been in Washington, D.C. every day the Senate has been in session since the start of the shutdown,” Ulin added.
Sen. John Hickenlooper (D)
Hickenlooper has hosted press conferences, met with constituents, and shared social media posts to address the health care policy issues he says are at the crux of the shutdown fight. The office has been fully staffed during the shutdown and continues to reach out to constituents and handle casework, the office explained. Hickenlooper’s office did not say exactly how many times he was present since the shutdown began.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R)
When the Colorado Times Recorder visited Boebert’s office, a front desk staffer said she was currently in the district meeting with constituents. He said the entire staff has been in the office during the shutdown, but would not answer questions about whether Boebert herself had been in the office in the past week. Other media requests through email to Boebert’s office were left unanswered.
Rep. Jason Crow (D)
Crow’s office said he has regularly been in the office, but, like other offices, did not state the number of times he’s been to D.C. since the shutdown began. His offices in D.C. and Aurora, Colorado, remain fully staffed and continue to do constituent outreach.
Crow stated in an email to the Colorado Times Recorder, “Trump and Republicans shut down the government in the middle of a health care crisis. Rather than work to solve the problem they created, Republicans took an extended vacation – and now, over a month later, this Republican shutdown is the longest in American history. Coloradans deserve better, and that’s why I stand ready to work across the aisle to reduce health care costs and re-open the government. It’s long past time for Republicans to join Democrats at the table and work out a solution that truly helps the American people.”
Rep. Jeff Crank (R)
A spokesperson for the office of Rep. Jeff Crank told the Colorado Times Recorder, “Congressman Crank has been in the office every day, working for the people of Colorado’s Fifth Congressional District, while the Senate minority holds the government hostage.”
Crank, like other Colorado representatives, has requested that his paycheck be withheld during the government shutdown.
“Our office continues to work for the people of El Paso County, with both our Colorado Springs and Washington D.C offices fully staffed, and responding to constituent outreach,” the spokesperson added.
Rep. Diana DeGette (D)
DeGette’s office did not respond to Colorado Times Recorder’s email requests. Her office was open, and a front desk staff person was present on Nov. 7.
Rep. Gabe Evans (R)
Alexandria Cullen, the press secretary for Evans, responded to the Colorado Times Recorder’s in-person questions and explained that the Congressman was in the office on Nov. 6. Cullen said that the office is “staffed up” and, “Everything is going as usual.”
Evans shared a photo of himself with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Nov. 6 on the social media platform, X, and tweeted, “I’ll never stop fighting for #C008.” He also met with American AgCredit, a large agricultural and rural lender, in D.C., on Nov. 5.
Since the shutdown began, Evans introduced legislation with Rep. Don Davies (D-NC) to allow state or local jurisdictions to give preference to veterans or people with disabilities when they hire workers for administering elections.
Rep. Jeff Hurd (R)
Hurd’s staff and the constituent services team have been in the office ever since the shutdown began, said Mark Fogelson, press assistant for Hurd, in an email to Colorado Times Recorder.
“Congressman Hurd has continued his regular work representing Colorado’s Third Congressional District, traveling between Washington and CO-03 multiple times during this period,” he added.
Rep. Joe Neguse (D)
Neguse has traveled to his D.C. office multiple times since the shutdown and posted a video on Instagram in front of his office on Oct. 14 where he requested Republicans “come back to the negotiating table.” He visited offices of federal agencies to drop off breakfast for federal workers working without pay, his office said.
Neguse has visited food banks in his district and introduced a bill to require the “Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish and maintain a database and webpage that is available to the public and contains information on the billion-dollar disasters that occur each year.”
Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D)
A staffer at her office told the Colorado Times Recorder that the office was fully staffed when we visited the office on Nov. 7.
When asked whether Pettersen has been to her D.C. office since the shutdown, a spokesperson said Pettersen is ready to fly to D.C. to pass a government funding bill if Trump meets Democrats at the negotiating table and said she flew to D.C. on Sept. 30 to try to avert the shutdown. Pettersen has hosted events and met with constituents and held two town halls and a resource fair for federal workers in her district. said the spokesperson.
Petterson stated to the Colorado Times Recorder in an email, “Republicans have been unwilling to negotiate and haven’t held a House vote for 49 days, but my team and I are still working around the clock to support our constituents during this difficult time. I have been traveling throughout my district to hear directly from the families whose healthcare costs will double or triple, to the seniors and veterans who are forced to skip meals because Trump refused to pay their SNAP benefits, to the federal workers who are losing their jobs for no reason other than Donald Trump’s political grudges — our communities deserve so much better than what is happening right now. I will keep spending every day fighting for working families, and I continue to stand at the ready for when Trump decides he wants to come to the negotiating table to help instead of prioritizing his billionaire friends and donors.”
UPDATE 11/7: A statement from Pettersen and information from her spokesperson were added.
