Two Democratic lawmakers plan to deliver National Park Service trash to White House

WASHINGTON – With trash bins overflowing at national parks as the partial government shutdown continues, two Democratic House members from California gathered up some of it and sent it to the White House.

On Saturday, Reps. Jackie Speier and Jared Huffman joined volunteers to pick up trash at two sites that are part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which is run by the National Park Service, public television station KQED reported.

Staffers for the lawmakers confirmed to USA TODAY that Speier and Huffman plan to drop the trash off at the White House at 4:45 p.m. EST. They plan to broadcast the event on their social media accounts. 

Waste accumulation has caused closures at some sites, including parts of Yosemite, but San Francisco Public Works has added some of the Golden Gate site trash bins to their routes, helping to keep the buildup manageable. 

"But it shouldn't be city workers, it shouldn't be community members who just can't stand the denigration of their national park," Huffman told KQED. "It should be folks who are paid to do this work and ready to do this work, and we should open the government so they can do it."

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Huffman and Speier placed the trash they gathered in cans labeled "Trump's trash." 

They told KQED that they plan to take the trash to Washington, D.C., and dump it at the White House. The television station did not report how they planned to transport the trash or how they planned to deliver it to the White House. 

The partial government shutdown, now in its 18th day, began after President Donald Trump refused to approve legislation in December that did not include $5.7 billion for the construction of a wall, and other security measures, on the U.S.-Mexico border. 

Trump plans to address the nation about the border situation and the shutdown in a prime-time television appearance at 9 p.m. EST. 

"It is a stunt!" Speier admitted when asked about the trash protest. "We're doing a stunt to equal President Trump's stunt." 

"I'll tell you what's not a stunt," Huffman added, according to KQED. "It's the diapers and the coffee cups and the burrito wrappers and the trash that's piling up in Park Service facilities all over this country because of what President Trump has done. His actions have real-world consequences."