Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson was slated to be the keynote speaker at the Governor of Missouri’s annual prayer breakfast, but thanks to the shutdown he has to cancel – because the government can’t pay for his travel, the AP reports.

If the government were not shutdown, taxpayers would be on the hook for the Secretary’s trip to Missouri, during which he would speak at the “interfaith event” whose “purpose is to seek God’s guidance for our political leaders as they begin the legislative session,” according to the program’s website.

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Then-Missouri Governor John Ashcroft, who would go on to become Attorney General under President George W. Bush, established the event in 1990.

Proceeds from the Missouri Governor’s Prayer Breakfast support the Governor’s Student Leadership Forum on Faith and Values.