Seventeen days into the shutdown of the U.S. government, there’s a flicker of light for some of the folks who are being forced to forgo a paycheck. Starting tonight, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live will be providing work to federal employees impacted by the standoff in Washington, D.C.
Jimmy Kimmel will put a government employee to work on his show every night until the shutdown ends. First up tonight is John Kostelnik, a guard at the Federal Correctional Complex in Victorville, CA, who will be sitting in with JKL house band Cleto and the Cletones.
The government shutdown is days away from becoming the longest in U.S. history. President Donald Trump is in a standoff with House Democrats led by newly reinstalled Speaker Nancy Pelosi over funding for this long-promised wall along the southern border. Both sides have dug in and show no sign of caving as the shutdown lurches through its third week. Maybe Kimmel’s staff could come up with some Mean Tweets for either camp or both that would prod them into a compromise.
While we wait for movement on that end, take a look above at Kimmel talking about his unique new government subsidy.