A dozen people were arrested Wednesday after furloughed federal workers and union leaders protested the government shutdown outside of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office.
According to The Washington Post, the protesters were asked to leave and would not, so police zip-tied their hands and led them away. They were all charged with misdemeanors.
The protesters outside McConnell's office were joined by hundreds of others who marched into the Hart Senate Office Building and, after standing in silence for 33 minutes to mark the 33-day ongoing shutdown, began chanting and holding up small signs.
"No more food banks! They need paychecks!" they shouted.
Union leaders told the Post they will be back on Capitol Hill Thursday to pay visits to Republican senators as they lobby for the government shutdown to come to an end.
"We want senators to see the faces of the people who are being hurt by this [shutdown], and to tell them it's time to stop holding federal employees hostage," National Federation of Federal Employees spokesperson Brittany Holder told the Post.
The shutdown began Dec. 22 after lawmakers could not agree on funding for a border wall between the United States and Mexico. With Democrats now in control of the House, President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are locked in a stalemate, with Pelosi unwilling to approve any money that would be used for a border barrier.
The results of a new poll released Wednesday showed that Trump's approval rating has plummeted to 34 percent during the shutdown.
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