The government shutdown has not stopped President Donald Trump and his henchmen from spending cash on vanity projects, such as White House renovations and private planes.

About 1.4 million federal workers are not receiving paychecks because of the shutdown, and many have become Uber drivers and DoorDash deliverers to make ends meet.

“I’m driving Uber at night so I can feed my 15-year-old son,” Daniel Scharpenburg, a longtime IRS employee, told a federal worker roundtable in Kansas.

Scharpenburg shared his story days before bulldozers began demolishing portions of the White House to make way for a rococo ballroom that will cost an estimated $200 million. Trump has publicly fantasized about building such a structure since before he was president.

The demolition work signals another broken promise by Trump, who said in July that the new ballroom “won’t interfere with the current building.”

The ballroom is allegedly being funded by Trump himself and a cadre of corporate donors, like R.J. Reynolds and weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin. Because the project involves a national monument, these donors will receive a federal tax write-off for their contributions.

“We are 20 days into the Republican Shutdown,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) wrote on X. “Health care costs are skyrocketing and federal workers aren’t getting paid. What is Trump doing? Building his gold plated ballroom.”

Thousands of dollars have also been spent on gold adornments for the Oval Office and enormous banners featuring Trump’s face that now hang from some federal buildings.

Trump isn’t the only one benefitting from government largesse during the shutdown. It was reported last week that the Coast Guard spent $172 million on two Gulfstream private jets for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

The Coast Guard insists the jets are part of a necessary upgrade, but it has not explained why it spent more than double its initial estimate of $50 million to procure them. It is also not clear where the funding for the jets came from.

Noem has already been scrutinized for using government planes for personal travel and living rent-free in a residence typically reserved for the Coast Guard’s commandant. Noem maintains these measures are necessary to ensure her personal safety.

“We are deeply concerned about your judgment, leadership priorities, and responsibility as a steward of taxpayer dollars,” Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee wrote in a letter to Noem, requesting more details on the private jet expenditure.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has also spent $51 million of taxpayer funds on a series of television ads this year thanking Trump for “securing the border” and defending ICE’s brutal deportation campaign.

Eyebrows were also raised by an announcement that the U.S. government would spend $20 billion on a currency swap with Argentina to help the nation’s fledgling economy.

This could all become a problem for Republicans. Many Americans, not just federal workers, are struggling with the rising costs of groceries and housing. Lavish spending by the White House risks making them look out of touch with those concerns.

It is likely to get worse when tax credits that help 22 million Americans afford health insurance plans expire at the end of this month. In Georgia, home to one of next year’s most competitive Senate races, some health care premiums are expected to quadruple as a result.

Democrats have made extending these subsidies a condition of reopening the government.

Reprinted with permission from American Journal News