Hand-wringing is OK if you are a furloughed Transportation Security Administration worker and, without last Friday’s paycheck, putting food in your month and a roof over your head is now in jeopardy.

Hand-wringing when you are a member of the U.S. Congress, with one vote out of 535 that could end the government shutdown, is just theatrics. Or pretending the emperor has clothes.

Republican legislators seem dumbfounded – like they have no powers. They have the power to garner enough votes to override a veto. They have the power to put substance over one man’s ego. They have the power to put 800,000 federal workers and their families first. They have the power to acknowledge that the justification for a wall isn’t even close to the damage done by shutting down the government for over 21 days.

They should use their power!

Nadine A. Bangerter

Rockland