--- title: George W. Bush Delivers Pizza to Secret Service Amid Shutdown description: George W. Bush made his feelings on the government shutdown known Friday with hand-delivered pizza to his secret service personnel. canonical: https://time.com/5507825/george-w-bush-pizza-shutdown/ author: Gina Martinez article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-01-19T17:08:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:03:56.616Z article:section: Politics og:title: George W. Bush Calls for an End to the Government Shutdown With a Secret Service Pizza Delivery og:description: “It’s time for leaders on both sides to put politics aside, come together, and end this shutdown" og:url: https://time.com/5507825/george-w-bush-pizza-shutdown/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0994dcb2c379125a/698943a616d88433d9c34762/img_3806.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1242 og:image:height: 699 og:image:alt: bush og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: George W. Bush Calls for an End to the Government Shutdown With a Secret Service Pizza Delivery twitter:description: “It’s time for leaders on both sides to put politics aside, come together, and end this shutdown" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0994dcb2c379125a/698943a616d88433d9c34762/img_3806.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # George W. Bush Calls for an End to Government Shutdown With a Secret Service Pizza Delivery > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Federal workers and contractors talk about how the partial government shutdown has impacted their lives as the shutdown goes into the third week._ by [Gina Martinez](https://time.com/author/gina-martinez/) ## Gina Martinez Jan 19, 2019 5:08 PM UTC  Former president George W. Bush hands pizza to his secret service personnel. Former president George W. Bush hands pizza to his secret service personnel. Photo Courtesy Instagram by [Gina Martinez](https://time.com/author/gina-martinez/) ## Gina Martinez Jan 19, 2019 5:08 PM UTC Former President George W. Bush made his feelings on the partial government shutdown known Friday with hand-delivered pizza to his secret service personnel as they continue to work without pay. Bush’s Instagram account posted an image of him carrying pizza boxes to secret service agents and expressed his and former first Lady Laura Bush’s appreciation for the agents and other federal employees. ″@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 posted. “And we thank our fellow citizens who are supporting them.” Now in its 28th day, the shutdown is the l[ongest in U.S history.](http://time.com/5499397/shutdown-longest-history/) Bush also urged politicians to come together to put an end to the shutdown. “It’s time for leaders on both sides to put politics aside, come together and end this shutdown.” he posted. The partial government shutdown began on Dec. 22, after Democrats refused to fulfill President Trump’s demand for $5.7 billion to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump is expected to make an announcement on Saturday afternoon regarding the shutdown. ## Transcript [00:00] I'm not allowed to work due to the government [00:02] shutdown, As a contractor I'm in an interesting position [00:06] that, unlike an employee of the federal government, [00:11] I'm not allowed to work and I will not get back pay. I'm [00:14] forced to use all my vacation time, and then I'm put on [00:17] leave without pay. Alright. Just have to wait till things [00:21] open back up and use up our savings or whatever we'll [00:24] have to do to keep things moving on. I think the [00:27] uncertainty is really hard cause you just have no idea [00:30] whether this is, whether I'm gonna lose a week of [00:32] income or a month of income. I mean, at what point to [00:35] it aside to go find a different job and. You [00:41] know, sort of leave the project you're working on high [00:44] and dry in a sense .>> They gave us two letters, for [00:48] example. They give you this mass letter that you can [00:51] present this to your creditor and let them know that [00:55] you are shut down but you will get paid. That creditor [00:58] can care less. About that letter. This is not my first [01:01] shutdown. I've been with the Internal Revenue Service [01:03] over 25 years. I already know that letter means [01:08] absolutely nothing to the creditor. Nothing. [01:13] It will still get reported out if you miss a bill. It's like I'm [01:17] sitting at my home with a hoodie on. Because I know I [01:20] could turn the thermostat down And kind of cut [01:24] back on what my life would have been. We're almost [01:28] the pawns in a political chess game, and it has nothing [01:31] to do with us. We're federal employees. We're [01:33] apolitical. We're not supposed to have opinions on [01:35] these things. And to involve us in this at such [01:40] a personal level by essentially holding hostage our [01:45] paychecks Well, they fight amongst themselves [01:49] over political issues is unfair, it's unfair to everybody. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5507825/george-w-bush-pizza-shutdown/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5507825/george-w-bush-pizza-shutdown/"},"headline":"George W. Bush Calls for an End to Government Shutdown With a Secret Service Pizza Delivery","datePublished":"2019-01-19T17:08:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:03:56.616Z","description":"“It’s time for leaders on both sides to put politics aside, come together, and end this shutdown\"","url":"https://time.com/5507825/george-w-bush-pizza-shutdown/","keywords":["government shutdown","George W. 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