Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) used her inaugural speech on the House floor to condemn President Donald Trump over the ongoing partial government shutdown.

The freshman congresswoman said Wednesday the shutdown was not really about Trump’s demands for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border or “the well-being of everyday Americans.” Instead, she said, it was “about the erosion of American democracy and the subversion of our most basic governmental norms.”

”It is not normal to hold 800,000 workers’ paychecks hostage. It is not normal to shut down the government when we don’t get what we want. It is not normal for public servants to run away and hide from the public that they serve,” Ocasio-Cortez added. “And it is certainly not normal to starve the people we serve for a proposal that is wildly unpopular among the American people.”

The jobs performed by federal workers and the anti-immigrant sentiment of Trump’s administration were “stressful enough” without the shutdown, she said, noting that Trump shared in the “responsibility to maintain the basic functioning” of government.

Check out the full clip here:

First House Floor speech from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC): “The truth of this shutdown is that it's actually not about a wall...The truth is, this shutdown is about the erosion of American democracy and the subversion of our most basic governmental norms." pic.twitter.com/r8tmsGSNtT — CSPAN (@cspan) January 17, 2019

Earlier in the day, Ocasio-Cortez joined fellow freshmen Democrats in searching for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

They wanted to hand over a letter demanding the end of the shutdown. Ocasio-Cortez and her colleagues documented their hunt, which proved unsuccessful, on Twitter:

800,000 workers are missing their paychecks and we’re pushing to get them paid ASAP.



We’re here doing our job - the House has voted to reopen government whole or in part several times - so why can’t we find GOP Senators to ask them do theirs? #WheresMitch pic.twitter.com/FogCPg6ayZ — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 16, 2019

We at the House are doing *our* job passing bills reopen government, so why won’t @senatemajldr do his?



We left to drop off letters to:

- His Sen Majority Leader office

- The GOP cloak room

- The Senate floor

- His Senate office



And he’s nowhere to be found. #WheresMitch? pic.twitter.com/jZcWei6PM7 — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@RepAOC) January 16, 2019

He’s not in the cloak room

He’s not in the Capitol

He’s not in the Russel building

He’s not on the floor of the Senate



And 800,000 people still don’t have their paychecks - so #WheresMitch? https://t.co/x3qOfC113M — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 17, 2019

Earlier today I joined my freshmen colleagues in looking for @senatemajldr. Just want to give him our letter asking him to #EndTheShutdown. Couldn’t find him, but we’re still trying. #WheresMitch pic.twitter.com/kXpj3gLata — Rep. Mike Levin (@RepMikeLevin) January 16, 2019

We went to his office, he wasn’t there. We went to the Senate floor, and he wasn’t there. Tomorrow he’s heading out of town on an “issues retreat” with his @SenateGOP colleagues. There’s no more urgent issue than calling for a vote in the senate to #EndTheShutdown #WheresMitch https://t.co/M9me1bKHb9 — Rep. Veronica Escobar (@RepEscobar) January 17, 2019

Love playing hide and seek with the kids. Never thought it would be happening in Congress with @Senatemajldr.#WheresMitch? https://t.co/FWv0paISyn — Eric Swalwell (@ericswalwell) January 16, 2019

Where’s @senatemajldr? Not calling for a vote to reopen the government. He’s also not:



✅ In the Senate Majority Office

✅ In the Senate Cloak Room

✅ On the Senate Floor

✅ In his own office



Believe us, we checked.



So #WheresMitch? And why won’t he #EndTheShutdownNow? pic.twitter.com/kA0sIUEyDb — Rep. Katie Hill (@RepKatieHill) January 16, 2019

Today, I joined my colleagues @AOC, @LaurenUnderwood, @RepJahanaHayes & others looking for the @senatemajldr to demand he do his job and out the American people first. #WheresMitch https://t.co/2v7y814osO — Katie Hill (@KatieHill4CA) January 16, 2019

He needs to face the American people and explain himself. These are the same bills the Senate supported before we took the majority in the House. Stop playing games with people's lives. #WheresMitch #EndTheShutdown https://t.co/Q6Xg6K5i89 — Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) January 16, 2019

The #WheresMitch hashtag also captured the imagination of others online:

L O S T T U R T L E H E L P



ATTN: I recently lost my pet turtle.



He likes long walks on the beach and enjoys shirking his Constitutional Responsibilities.



His most notable feature is his lack of spine! #WheresMitch



P L E A S E H E L P!pic.twitter.com/p4ZPdtP8Sg — Ryan Hill (@RyanHillMI) January 17, 2019

#WheresMitch



Open the government @SenMajLdr . It belongs to We the People. — Nancy Sinatra (@NancySinatra) January 17, 2019

There must be a way to get #WheresMitch to watch @iamcardib. — Jonathan Wald (@jonathanwald) January 17, 2019

absolutely don't spread this around or send it to @senatemajldr#WheresMitch pic.twitter.com/CA8QXtagcs — Game of Thornes (@GeoffThorne) January 17, 2019

Pretty good irony if #WheresMitch ends up being the straw that breaks the made-up-shutdown’s back. — Jonathan Wald (@jonathanwald) January 17, 2019