George W. Bush Tweets Plea To End Government Shutdown, Buys Pizza For Secret Service

George W. Bush came up with a unique way to advocate for an end to the current government shutdown, the Huffington Post is reporting. The former U.S. president decided to buy multiple boxes of pizza for his Secret Service agents, who are currently working without pay due to the shutdown. He posted a photo of his gift to the workers on his Instagram, writing his thoughts on the shutdown for the picture’s caption.

?@LauraWBush and I are grateful to our Secret Service personnel and the thousands of Federal employees who are working hard for our country without a paycheck,” he wrote. “And we thank our fellow citizens who are supporting them. It’s time for leaders on both sides to put politics aside, come together, and end this shutdown.”

The government shutdown has been in place for almost a month now, first going into effect on December 22. President Donald Trump is demanding over $5 billion to build a giant wall at the Mexico border. Democrats refuse to provide this money, and both sides don’t appear any closer to to giving in. Thousands of federal workers are not receiving pay as a result of this shutdown, and now some are being ordered to return to their jobs without compensation in agencies from the Internal Revenue Service to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Trump stated that in the past, he had discussed the idea of a wall privately with the four former presidents currently living: Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Bush, and Barack Obama. Each once of these men, including Bush, have denied voicing their support of the wall. Earlier in January, Bush’s spokesperson stated that he and Trump had never even discussed the topic.

According to another article from the Huffington Post, Trump is set to make a “major announcement” regarding the shutdown the afternoon of January 19. The White House declined to comment on the announcement when asked about it on Friday night, but insiders who are asking to remain anonymous due to not having authorization to share the information revealed that Trump would be announcing a new deal that could help the shutdown finally come to an end. While Trump has threatened to sign a national emergency declaration in the past if Democrats do no comply to his demands, one of the anonymous insiders shared with the press that Trump will not be going through with that option.

Trump is said to be making his announcement from the Diplomatic Room at 3 p.m.