Skip to main content
Back to Show
PBS News Hour

Panetta: Shutdown is 'punishing innocent people'

The ongoing government shutdown is not the first time a political stalemate has caused federal agencies to close and workers to go without paychecks. Leon Panetta, who was White House chief of staff during a shutdown under President Clinton, tells Judy Woodruff why reopening the government is the top priority and that there's "no excuse" for failing to do so, plus how Democrats can negotiate.