When Congress Stops Showing Up, Working Caregivers Pay the Price
- Mark Fukae
- Feb 22
- 3 min read
The Supreme Court redraws trade authority. DOJ fires a court-appointed prosecutor. DHS enters week two of shutdown. Congress remains absent.
By Mark Fukae - Director of Advocacy - Professionals Who Care
This weekend, three separate stories revealed the same structural pattern: Congress is no longer exercising the authority it possesses.
On Friday, the Supreme Court struck down the President's sweeping tariffs in a 6-3 ruling, finding that IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose import taxes - a power the Constitution reserves for Congress. The President responded by imposing a new 10–15% global tariff under different legal authority and attacking the justices who ruled against him. Congress, the branch with constitutional authority over commerce, was not in the room.
The same day, the Department of Justice fired James Hundley - a veteran litigator unanimously appointed by federal judges to serve as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia - hours after his appointment. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the firing on social media. This was the second time this month the administration fired a court-appointed prosecutor. Congress took no action.
Meanwhile, the DHS shutdown entered its second week. On February 22, TSA announced the suspension of PreCheck and Global Entry. FEMA entered emergency operating status, ceasing all non-disaster responses. Over 260,000 DHS employees remain affected, most working without pay. Congress returns February 23 - to a State of the Union address, not a funding resolution.
Why This Matters for Working Caregivers
Professionals Who Care has long documented what happens when institutions fail to function: working caregivers absorb the cost. This week's pattern - executive overreach met with congressional absence - has direct consequences for the families our members support.
When Congress lacks the capacity to oversee trade policy, price instability hits household budgets. Tariff whiplash - sweeping import taxes struck down, replaced within hours, raised again the next day - creates exactly the kind of economic uncertainty that forces caregivers to choose between their jobs and their families' stability.
When Congress can't maintain oversight of prosecutorial power, the rule of law becomes unpredictable. Families navigating complex benefit systems, Medicaid eligibility, and disability services need institutional consistency. They're not getting it.
When DHS shuts down, FEMA stops non-disaster responses. Coast Guard families lose support. TSA agents - many of whom are caregivers themselves - work without pay.
This is the same coordination failure working caregivers experience every day: the doctor who doesn't know the prescription changed, the case manager who gives contradictory instructions, the system that depends on you but doesn't protect you.
The Structural Problem
The deeper issue isn't polarization - it's capacity. Over decades, Congress has hollowed out its own expertise. Committee staff have been cut. The Office of Technology Assessment was defunded in the 1990s. Staff compensation is too low to retain experienced people. The institutional knowledge base keeps shrinking while the complexity of governance keeps rising.
For caregivers, this capacity deficit shows up as frozen policy. FMLA hasn't been updated since 1993. It doesn't account for chronic eldercare, gig work, multi-generational households, or the reality that most caregivers can't afford unpaid leave. Updating it would require sustained staff work, hearings, data analysis, and coalition-building - exactly the kind of work an under-resourced Congress struggles to do.
State Action: The Colorado CARE Act
When Congress can't act, states must. The Colorado CARE Act addresses the gap directly: caregiver status as a protected class under Colorado's Anti-Discrimination Act, reasonable workplace accommodations, prohibition on constructive discharge. Zero general fund appropriation. Projected annual Medicaid savings of $9–18 million.
States like Colorado can move faster, pilot structural protections, and demonstrate what happens when caregiving is treated as infrastructure rather than afterthought.
What You Can Do
Sign the Colorado CARE Act petition: https://chng.it/DLWncS9wtT
Contact your Colorado legislators: leg.colorado.gov/find-my-legislator
Demand congressional capacity reform: tell your representatives you want a Congress capable of doing its job
Share your caregiver workplace story: mark_fukae@casiadvocacy.org
Congressional capacity is infrastructure. When it fails, caregivers absorb every tremor.
Mark Fukae is the Director of Advocacy for Professionals Who Care and founder of CASI. He is a registered Colorado volunteer lobbyist and 20+ year family caregiver.
Learn more: https://professionalswhocare.org
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