House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters (D., Calif.) blasted President Trump today over the continuing federal government shutdown’s impact on the Securities and Exchange Commission, which she said is “essentially providing fraudsters and schemers with a free pass to swindle investors and small businesses.”

The longtime opponent of President Trump said on Twitter today that “[t]his President has all but closed the doors of the SEC, furloughing 94% of the agency.” Water’s committee has oversight responsibility for the SEC, which is operating with a skeleton crew and currently not answering phones or surveilling markets, investment advisors or the other entities for which it has primary responsibility.

Water’s hashtag? #TrumpShutdown.

The lambasting echoes the chairwoman’s statement on the House floor yesterday in support of an appropriations bill that would fund the federal government, including the SEC, but not provide the $5.6 billion in border wall financing the White House is demanding.

“I look forward to working with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, but today I rise in support of H.R. 264, legislation that would reopen the federal government and put Wall Street’s cop on the block, the Securities and Exchange Commission, back to work,” Waters said in her floor statement.

“With such a skeleton crew of less than 300 staff, the SEC cannot possibly oversee the activities of the over 26,000 registered entities, such as investment advisors, broker-dealers and stock exchanges. Worse, the SEC is unable to hold bad actors accountable through most enforcement actions, preventing harmed investors from obtaining relief,” Waters said.

“The Trump shutdown is jeopardizing the integrity of our financial markets and the hard-earned savings of millions of Americans. So, let’s end this Trump shutdown and open the government so the SEC and other agencies can get back to work,” said Waters, who called on Republicans to persuade the president to end the shutdown.

President Trump has rejected the measure, and there is no immediate end in sight to the shutdown.

Federal workers across the country have announced they are holding rallies today and Friday to protest the government shutdown, which has affected some 800,000 federal workers who have been furloughed or are working without pay. Several members of Congress from Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, as well as AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka are slated to attend an AFL-CIO event in Washington, D.C., today. Rally attendees will march to the White House after the remarks. Federal workers are also rallying in Cincinnati; Chicago; St. Louis; Dallas; and Covington, Ky.

The National Treasury Employees Union and dozens of other unions for federal workers are rallying in Washington, D.C., Friday. Participants plan to march from the American Federation of Labor headquarters, where 12 congressional members and 12 federal employees will speak near the White House, according to FEDmanager, an online newsletter for federal employees.