Trump has implied that she has no sympathy for the plight of federal workers because he believes them all to be Democrats. Republican federal workers who are NOT politicians or political appointees should stand up together and make their voices heard - including a promise to never vote for another Republican unless this shutdown is speedily ended.
2
Well,of course - it's a toll on humans - for sake of politics.
But I have issues with some comments by these federal workers.
The air traffic guy saying he "works for the country.". Not to be disrespectful - but no, he works in a job that just happens to do air traffic control.
I worked in the oil patch for 43 years - lived through downturns,layoffs and even a bankruptcy of Texaco - who employed me many years.
If folks have not out aside for a rainy day - I don't know what to say.
Also, don't these unions have a fund to support these folks in emergency?
The new Speaker whom I admire- called the Wall immoral.
Well, Madame speaker - where is the morality when there are all these unintended victims.
Finally, some folks below have said POTUS and Congress should not get paychecks.
An excellent idea.
But POTUS has already donated all of his salary - a thing may be Speaker would be wise to remember.
8
Well, Trump is known for not paying what he owes when he was in his casino and hotel business. And so he does not understand the plight of unpaid federal workers either, and throws them overboard as part of his fight with the Democrats and his own party.
42
It's disgraceful that federal workers and contractors are being stiffed while the president's cabinet and our vice president are receiving a huge raise. My husband is a retired scientist from NASA. He went through several of these shutdowns. Eventually he received back pay, but the contractors he worked side by side with did not. Meanwhile, we had to listen to people who claimed that the government doesn't do anything important anyway, that Federal workers are lazy etc etc. Congress (the Senate) should stand up to Trump and reopen the government. Let him veto it if he chooses.
44
Do what they would do in France. Go to the streets and march on the white house!
34
I feel so reassured now that Jared is involved in the process. With his many years of government experience, his unparalleled knowledge of the legislative process and his ability to facilitate compromise between the most hostile factions should make all Americans rest easy tonight. After all, in less than two years he has achieved permanent peace in the Middle East, forced the Chinese to all of our demands and cure cancer.
46
Actually, only a portion of the government is shut down. I would like to see them get this resolved, but, if not, the government employees should perhaps look for work in the private sector. Yes, I know, they will have to show up on time, work productively, and, if they don’t they might get fired. There are lots of jobs available, though most government employees probably don’t have the qualifications to get one.
3
I am mystified by the venom and hate directed towards federal employees. Who knew working hard for the public would be so reviled. Thank you to all who serve the public in federal, state and local positions.
130
Government didn't care when their regulations cost jobs. They don't care when small businesses can't keep up with all the bureaucracy. They don't care when people die because the FDA is so onerous that new drugs can't be approved. Government didn't care when they sided with companies to reduce pension programs of private workers. Everyone should have a few months worth of savings. Unlike private sector, when the government shutdown ends, these public employees will get their backpay.
7
Isn't Congress due for a raise? 45 and Congress should not be paid at all during this shutdown even if it lasts under their new threat for "months and months". It would be great if Federal workers united to march on Washington but they have to pay for prescription drugs, diapers, day care, gas, light bills, etc.
12
Why do we need 800,000 non-essential federal government workers? At ~$100,000 apiece including benefits, that works out to ~$80 B. I am willing to forego a little inconvenience at national parks to save this. We cannot afford non-essential federal workers!
6
Trying to force the funding of "the wall" by messing with the lives of our government workers is totally unconscionable. However, totally in line with Mr. Trumps low level of conscientiousness management style.
Sooner or later Mr. Trump will get his comeuppance. There is nothing that will punish his ego more than not getting a second term. He has around 20 months to finish digging his own grave, politically speaking. Then he will have the rest of his life to look for people to pay him to speak. Can you imagine the tweets when is no longer President? My bet is he will try to resurrect The Apprentice.
I wonder if the Trump Presidential Library will be in Trump Tower?
19
NYT falls into a trap with the rest of the media by focusing on hardships to the federal workforce. Yes, this might be a sub-head or a byline, but why not cover what federal workers DO? They have managed to keep some important things running, but what about planning, engineering, research, or financial operations that are longer-term propositions. As Trump's tantrum drags on, it increasingly affects things like our healthcare, water supply, transportation systems, and funding for operations including tax refunds to citizens.
38
In this article it reads 800,00 people are affected, but when you take into consideration spouses and Children this number jumps to around 3Million people it affects. There should Never be a Government Shutdown. In my years of sitting down at the Negotiating table I have come to expierence. that if resonable people really want to reach an agreement they will find a way. When either side or both sides take the position My Way or the Highway this is what you get.
13
So, seen from afar, it appears many federal employees have to work without pay, while legislators are paid even though they rarely work.
29
Here's a few facts overlooked in the coverage of the shutdown. Based on what happened during the 2013 shutdown: "Essential" employees cannot take any normally paid time off during the shutdown. That includes sick leave, vacation, or "compensatory time" (straight time hours off given in lieu of getting paid overtime). More than a few federal employees are banned from seeking any non-government paid work. AND, the folks that process the requests to engage in outside work are (that's right) furloughed. on furlough). And, federal employees' health insurance premiums are payable in full - no shutdown delay in paying the insurance companies. "Essential" employees are working under the assumption that they will receive retroactive pay. That isn't guaranteed. Given the double-dealing pettiness of that man in the White House, I would not at all be surprised if his parting shot in all this would be a veto of any appropriations including back pay for "essential" and/or furloughed federal employees.
26
The first people who should not be paid are the Congress & staff, then the executive branch, then the judiciary branch. In that order then the rest of the government employees.
Our elected officials need to have health insurance the equivalent as the rest of us and retirement benefits equivalent as the rest of us. Not luxurious plans that they have!
24
Democrats already provided legislation to fund most agencies while negotiations over border security continue.
The president is holding all the agencies hostage.
Say it like it is. Repeat it. This is a Trump shutdown and tantrum.
You can't just ram through any policy, even if it was a campaign promise (for a minority of voters).
You always need to compromise and work with legislators. Government 101.
Maybe if he'd done a better job at helping retain the House rather than having the opposite effect, his wall would be well under way.
19
Federal employees will eventually be paid. Note that this is not a defense of the shutdown in any sense (it's from the same madness that brought us the trade war, the absence of diplomatic representation in unnumbered countries, the 6000+ lies in two years) but it is at least some mitigation of the employees' financial situations. The bulk of the work done by the federal government is done by contractors. I used to work for one. Those guys will not get paid. Many of the reputable companies will continue to pay their employees because they don't want to lose those skills, but they will take a hit on profits. The longer this goes on, the more effect we will see on Wall St next reporting quarter.
9
I firmly believe that Trump is responsible for this particular shutdown, and the suffering it is causing. Nevertheless, this stunt has been pulled in the past by Congress, starting with Gingrich in the nineties, and it has to be stopped. Legislation that exempts Congress and the White House from the effects of shutdowns should be repealed so that in future stand-offs, all parties will be very reluctant to go this route.
17
I would like to see a legal challenge which gives federal employees protection from these tactics. Maybe if Congress was required to continue their pay, shutdowns would lose their "effectiveness".
10
It pains me to say this but if "we seem to be pawns" is reflective of the mindset of the majority of the workers, they are not helping ensure that this is solved and never happens again.
Their mindset in this case should be "we seems to be pawns of Donald Trump, and we all commit not to vote for him ever again nor for any party or president that uses us as pawns in the future". (Of course, this would be applicable to any other president or congressional body in the majority if they were responsible for using the Government Shutdown as a bargaining chip).
9
Unfortunately they are pawns which is instructive for the future. Federal payrolls should be unified and not segregated between military and civilian. Why is a soldier in a non combat zone any more critical than a Customs agent?
It would force the Executive and Legislative branches to truly own a shutdown.
6
personally, I think it would be a wise idea for all federal workers who are not being paid to make copies of the household bills they're unable to pay, and mail them to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. perhaps the deluge will bury Trump and some progress on running the country can be made while he is distraced. I envision a mountain of unpaid bills - a sight no doubt already very familiar to Mr. Trump - rivaling the height of the Washington Monument.
131
@[email protected] sounds like a recipe to be fired if the furlough ever ends. Remember how Trump reduced the due process protections for federal workers? I’m too close to retiring to act recklessly. That’s the president’s job after all.
22
@[email protected] I endorse this
6
A shutdown, slows down the judicial processes - which in itself aids Trump. It also acts as a powerful diversion from the daily oozing of stories about his corruption. That he is prepared to play with the lives of hundreds of thousands of federal employees, subjecting them to significant financial hardship and uncertainty without any hesitation shows how he lacks even basic human empathy. This inability to feel for others is a hallmark of the psychopath. It seems every day Trump proves himself unfit for office, when will the GOP have the backbone to stand up and say, 'enough'?
26
I am a federal worker and I am lucky to be in an agency which is funded. However, over the years, I have been required to, and have worked during funding lapses. Both the democrats and republicans have abused the workers to make political points in the past, but this feels like a temper tantrum from two toddlers. Aren't these people supposed to be adults? Funny how Congress is still being paid and the President is living off his wealth while the American people don't seem to figure in the equation. Is it any wonder that I make it a policy to vote against every incumbent?
16
I feel for government employees, many of whom work from paycheck to paycheck as suggested in your story.
These people want to go back to work! The American people want them to go back to work! But for some reason the President and his party don't seem to care if they work or not, thinking it just fine if they work without pay (or sit around doing nothing hoping for some sign of leadership in the Senate and White House).
I wish we had a stronger union movement in this country. The entire country should be on strike right now until they open our government. These are our employees. They should be working for us.
26
If any federal worker is optimistic, they should remember that this president has a very long track record (over2,700 lawsuits) of stiffing small businesses and contractors. There is no reason to think he has had a change of heart or philosophy since taking office.
30
Millions lost jobs during the recession. There were no jobs to go back to and unemployment was high. Now I see help wanted ads offering $15 to $19 per hour, no experience needed, immediate employment. Maybe government workers temporarily unemployed, should look at alternatives. Meanwhile they can cancel cable, visits to Starbucks, and eating out.
4
2 Points
1. We need to get federal workers back to their jobs. The longer they are out, the longer the people's business will be backlogged. Whether or not some workers and agencies are inefficient is not the issue. A shutdown is irresponsible on the part of politicians,
2. I know we are a consumerist society, but who among us hasn't been advised from childhood to put money aside for a "rainy day". Life is full of contingencies and getting laid off from a job, even a government job, isn't a far-fetched event. Most federal workers make middle class salaries. For them to live from paycheck to paycheck is also irresponsible.
3
@PWR
Define Wall.
Define cost.
For the record, define how Mexico pays.
The President can't define anything with reliable specificity, let alone inspire any confidence that he won't morph on any definition that he might give.
Adults don't negotiate with 2-year-olds. Time to override the 2-year-old.
14
The ongoing issue of government shutdowns tells me neither the President nor legislators have much respect for the rank & file government worker.
Let the President & Congress work without pay. Oh, won't affect them. They're wealthy, with a few exceptions.
Making nearly half the affected workers work without pay is akin to slavery. Sure, they MAY get paid sometime, but not before irreparable harm is done to some. The others, they can look for new employment.
Why do good people want to work for the Federal Government?
1. Job security?
2. Good benefits?
3. Prestige?
4. Commitment to public service?
More & more, it becomes clear that many believe that government workers are the dregs of the work force. Nothing could be further from the truth, sure there are bad workers in every sector, but I know from personal experience that most government workers truly believe in government service and will continue to do the job no matter how difficult it is. And they'll do it with little appreciation or thanks from our elected officials or many in the public.
Another observation...many who despise government workers, merely resent the fact THEY weren't good enough to get one of those coveted jobs.
Get our government back to work! Show some appreciation for those doing the tough work of keeping our government strong.
That "wall" isn't worth the pain it's inflicting...listen to the experts, there are better ways to ensure the security of our once Great Country.
14
Nice touch is the automatic pay raise about to kick in for political appointees, from Pence to cabinet secretaries to other administrators -- while hundreds of thousands of Federal employees go without a paycheck, and others are subjected to a pay freeze. Great optics.
15
If there is any indication how sorry the state of our federal government is--and, by extension, our nation--it is that its workers cannot last even much past a week without being paid. "Sad!"
2
“I don’t think anybody who works for the government is worried about if this wall gets built or not,” said La-Shanda Palmer, a T.S.A. employee in Philadelphia. “They want to go back to work.”
That kind of mindset is problematic to me. They should care whether the wall is built or not, that's the crux of the shut down. The furloughed government workers should be putting pressure on Congress. Part of me hopes the shut down does continue so people do get more outraged. Complacency and thinking only of oneself (e.g. I want to go back to work; I don't care about the larger issue of immigration and border security) is part of the problem.
It's also hard for me to feel sympathetic to government employees who should know this is always a possibility when one works for the government. (I say that as a former government employee who got out, in part, because of the soul-crushing bureaucracy.)
2
The wall is not going to be built. This is all just political posturing by Trump and the GOP. I think it is admirable that government employees want get back to work and disgraceful that Trump is hurting them.
19
As a former Federal employee (Interior & Agriculture) I feel truly sorry for the workers affected. Being used politically is somewhat part of what Federal employement comes with, as you are required to carry out policies you don't agree with. Not getting paid as part of a political stunt playing on racial paranoia is not acceptable. I would hope all laid off workers apply for unemployment which they would clearly qualify for.
12
Pawns can make all the difference in a chess match.
Wouldn't it be interesting if all 42,000 TSA employees decided to take a long needed break from their jobs? Flights throughout the US would suddenly stop. These Federal employees (now technically unemployed) are currently working without pay.
This is one way to directly impress upon the American public the catastrophe Trump, the "Freedom Caucus" and right wing media are inflicting on ordinary workers.
Trump flip-flopped from one day to the next and decided to hold 800,000 people hostage for a totally unnecessary and unrelated border wall.
The Democrats should stand firm and not be blackmailed. It sets a terrible precedent to hold hostage federal appropriation bills by throwing a million (or 3 million) people out of work.
13
Trump is creating tens of thousands of Democrats as this stretches on. 350,000 furloughed workers, 435,000 forced to work without pay, and 483,000 contractors. The comments I've heard, they know full well who is behind this shut down. And over an issue that is a rounding error in the budget, but once FUELED by FOX NEWS became as if the only governmental purpose is to have American Taxpayers pay for a fraction of a wall, that Trump promised Mexico would pay for.
12
"Key Republican senator" at web link is Richard Shelby of Alabama. "Months and months" of shutdown is the kind of loyal defeatist talk that McConnell approves. McConnell and Shelby think that they're giving Trump manuevering room with Pelosi. In actuality, "months and months" of shutdown is more than enough rope to hang all of the "at-risk" 2020 Republican candidates.
It's not a secret: Republicans count every federal dollar entering their districts. If this was a Department of Defense (DOD) Shutdown that would take millions of dollars from Huntsville contractors and local businesses supported by federal employees' spending, that same Alabama senator would, INSTEAD, be singing an "End The Shutdown" tune.
19
"To me, it’s like a political chess game that they’re playing, and we seem to be pawns."
Ordinary people are the pawns and only unity can correct this. Otherwise, we can only complain. The solution that will stop this nonsense very quickly is for all those people, working without pay, should simply say no!. No pay, no work
We are not slaves hoping for crumbs to fall from the table of the rich. Stop working and go to the offices of your Senators and Congressmen. Only that will change the oligarch's sentiment, and it will be done swiftly. They will always consider this option in every future shutdown planned.
There is strength in numbers!
8
Trump's pawns.
That's how he has played every game. Business or government; no matter.
7
“Seem to be pawns” is an understatement. If you want to ruin government for the long term Mr. Trump, continue. No one in their right mind will dedicate themselves to getting the job done when the boss has no regard for their welfare.
7
What gets me is that the federal budget for this year is $4.02T and Trump wants only a measly 5B for the wall, which is less than 0.02% of the total budget...which is almost nothing to our country...so why can't the democrats just give the money for the wall, when the amount of time off by all the federal workers forced out of work will probably be voted on to be paid for their time off and the cost will be greater than the 5B needed for the wall...it makes no sense to me why the democrats are dragging their feet on this and causing a bigger problem...just give the money for the wall Pelosi...
7
My recommendation is that Trump should get the money from Mexico like he promised. He would be a hero then. Unfortunately he had no actual plan and made that part up.
23
That's right. Federal workers are pawns in Trump's Bannon game to dismantle government. Congress should start impeachment proceedings immediately.
14
This is Trump and McConnell’s effort to discredit the Democrats. Anyone with any smarts would realize the on wall gap is in TX along the Rio Grande - the Int Border is in the middle of the River. The big beautiful slatted metal wall runs from CA through AZ - except for a short stretch of reservation. So the call for a wall is all a smokescreen- shame on the perpetrators for endangering the lives and economic well being of Americans over a Big Bad Lie.
6
In any other country, workers would be out in the streets. Americans just sigh and say "more please." Imagine a fraction of those in DC surrounding the White House.
10
Every company in the United States should stop remitting Federal Income Tax withholding payments until the shut down is resolved. Also the Capitol Police and Secret Service should be sent home.
10
I'm sure it's very hard for the affected workers.
Let's all hope the Congress funds the border wall ASAP so they can get back to work.
2
This shutdown is owned and operated by Mitch Mcconnell and Pat Toomey, who supports Trump 100%. McConnell net worth $26 million: Toomey over $3 million. Trump - who knows? He lies bout everything. What do they care about people who are suffering the consequences?
The Senate has the ability to pass the House budget (which they already approved once) and override a veto FOR THE GOOD OF THE COUNTRY. But Toomey and McConnell Place party over country.
15
Furlough the Secret Service. He will sign anything at that point.
12
The Artful Dealer:
First we trash the credit scores then we bankrupt employees.
Leverage and my gut always win.
4
They "seem to be" pawns because that's exactly what they are to Trump.
7
"Seem" to be pawns?? Government workers have always been political pawns. Trump and the GOP have stabbed a million workers in the back with this shutdown. Now we see that Pence and many political appointees are getting $10,000 raises!! This is beyond anything Americans can imagine out of this corrupt administration. Remember the GOP in 2020 and vote them out!!
8
Quick story. I recently retired after 25 years with DOJ. My vacation pay sits unprocessed until govt reopens. Still in their clutches.
6
Trump's position on the shut down is similar to Marie Antoinettes "Let them eat cake" even though he didn't go to Mar-A-Lago knowing the image would be very bad. Trump lies over 15x a day as he seeks to boost his image as the world's best expert on just about every field. Trump is a fraudster con artist and unfit to be president as is becoming clearer every day he is in office with an acting cabinet replacing corrupt ones or fired ones. Now without restraints Trump can fulfill commitments he made to Putin in secret destroy NATO and weaken the USA on the world stage.
9
“How to woo and win votes of Federal workers by DJT”
I hear it’s as good and as accurate as “The art of the deal”
4
Let's let the conservatives go ahead and build the stupid wall. It won't stop the majority of illegals in the US of course since those are folks who overstay their legal visas. Make sure to put a Trump sign at intervals along the wall.
As everyone should know by now, the United States never looks at its own foreign policies directed at others as the very creator of the wars, genocides, famines, terrorists, cartels, and ultimately refugees that are the result of our disastrous meddling in other countries.
3
"Seem"? Are.
3
I just read an article in The Atlantic about Newt Gingrich. According to this article, Gingrich is the one who made the Republican party go rogue and that includes shutting down the government for more that a few day. He's trained all his minions in the Rep party who have been making life hell for all Americans for quite some time now. The GOP's goal to not get anything done other than obstruct, dismantle and follow their party no matter how awful the measures they use.
Talk about governing! Dems want bipartisanship and compromising and the Reps bite the hand.
8
As usual, the most wealthy are pretty much untouched financially by Trump's shutdown, while those depending on their paychecks week to week are beaten down.
The idea of a concrete and metal wall along just one of our borders is primitive. If our low-tech president shuts down the government every time he doesn't get his way, the balance of power ends and we live under a dictatorship.
I care about border security, and I don't know of one single American who doesn't, no matter their political party. It's too bad that Trump made such a stupid wall promise during his campaign, but what degree does he generally show about keeping his word? Why has he picked this wall issue to close the government over? We all know that it's being used as a political tool...and that you are being used most of all.
Aside from your financial suffering, there's the issue of the nation's being deprived of your services. Already, voices on the radical right are joking about the concept of "essential services". If we keep "essential" government workers on the job, then that must mean that the rest of the workers aren't "essential", so why ever pay them at all? Ugly. Disrespectful.
I wish that there were something I could do more than express my respect for the work you do and my dismay at the way you're being used now. At the very least, you know that the nation is aware of your present hardships.
26
This is the most despicable part of the "need to fund the wall." The unrelated overall function of the government. But the good thing will be these workers will harden their views on Mr. Trump. I regret that they have to be the fall guys in this miserable Presidency.
9
Everything the fake president touches....... I'm so glad I'm a retired fed but it hurts my heart to see how this horrible individual is damaging hard-working government employees. SHAME ON HIM.
19
Seem to be? Yes they definitely are pawns, so are the rest of us, but that doesn't make Trump the King he would like to be, he is still the Fool.
11
Federal workers seem to be pawns? You clearly are pawns of a clueless player who wants what he wants because he wants it to please his base of fear and hate and said player doesn't give a fig for federal workers, migrants, rule of law, alienating our allies, sleeping with our enemies, its only the player's ego, money, and business that interests him, everyone else is available for his psycho EO and claims. When he finally turns against his moronic base, who will they call for help? All those they hated, discriminated against, killed by a thousand cuts? When you hitch your ride to evil, hate, and prejudice, your destination is the place where all who enter abandon hope. Speak up, speak out, sue, now, before we are no longer an oligarchy but a full blown dictatorship.
12
It'll time that air traffic controllers starting "assisting" TSA.
Slow down all arrivals and departure. Rack em and stack em.
8
@Doremus Jessup You remember the "old days" when Reagan had to deal with them. They were effective. I was a Federal employee when Carter cut the cost of living raise. We blocked the entry to the Federal Building and stopped working and made our point clearly.
9
And the President of these United States, sits in the White House, taking instructions from FOX News and the Kremlin, while "Rome" burns.
The time has arrived, Mr. Trump. You need to leave. You are destroying this country.
Your incompetence and your lies are mind boggling. You have failed miserably.
Please just go away.
28
The pain is just beginning for those impacted by the shutdown. Once payments are late or missed, it will take years for their credit to recover. It does not matter what caused payments to be late or missed, the credit industry simply owns our future. It doesn't matter how many letters of explanation are entered into our credit files, if we can even figure out how to do that anymore, we are simply a credit score whenever we need anything from insurance to a mortgage.
14
Time for the 420,000 federal workers who are being forced to work without being paid to cite the 13th Amendment. Most of the public can live without going to national parks or DC museums. But when the TSA workers are no longer at their airport security posts who is going to want to get on a plane?
9
I am a veteran and come from a family of both veterans and high level civil servants. The federal government is full of employees who are among the top experts in their fields AND are willing to work long hours at a fraction of industry pay to keep our government functioning. They do it for years or even careers in the belief they can make a difference for their countrymen (and women). Supporting them are many, many hardworking administrative and technical staff members who rival the best of corporate America. Supporting them is a dedicated group of people who keep the offices and institutes clean and safe. Knowing that, what really stuns me, having moved recently from the DC area to rural New York, is the number of people here who vilify government employees as "educated welfare" because that's what they see on TV, read in the paper and hear on the radio and around the bars. I understand much of it is ignorance, but many white collar urbanites I know have a lot of empathy for out-of-work factory workers and such, even though they have no experience of rural, blue collar stresses. How I wish for a balanced news source that people here would trust.
37
As one of the workers described in this article, I find the Democrats suggestion incredibly reasonable. Split off the funding in question, let most of us get back to work, and argue about whether or not to fund the wall based on its own merits. I almost wish that Trump had suggested it so that it had a chance. Of course, that puts the other side in a terrible negating position because they can't win the argument using reason and logic. That should tell us all we need to know.
308
@Full Name
This may sound reasonable to you but it doesn't work in the real world.
In any negotiation you have to have something to offer. When it comes to spending bills the negotiation is about each side getting their priorities funded. Offering to fund the other sides priorities while postponing discussion of your own means your priorities will go unfunded. Nancy Pelosi has flatly said the border wall will not get funded. She has no incentive to negotiate on this after the other funding bills are passed.
4
@Frank True, except in the past granting the DACA recipients residency (with a path towards citizenship) was a strong issue to negotiate funding for "a wall". It then is more of a win-win without using federal workers as pawns as Trump is doing.
19
@Frank
Agreed. And I see nothing wrong with some things not being up for negotiation. If press reports are accurate, that's the issue.
Right now, the president is testing his hypothesis that everything is up for negotiation as long as long as you are willing to drive the car over the cliff. Maybe he is right.
8
During a shutdown, Congress and the President should not get paid, and the Capitol cafeteria should close. The closing of the cafeteria alone might get something resolved.
451
@Umberto
Their excuse is that the Constitution "requires" Congress get paid.
How convenient.
And who has the final say to change pass an amendment? Congress.
So Congress, the American people demand you vote for an amendment to the Constitution to ensure the first to lose their pay as a result of a government shutdown are Congress.
Shutdown: You voted for it, You lose your pay!
54
@Umberto
Problem is that all the Washington power brokers are wealthy, and they could care less if they didnt get paid for month.
28
I wonder whether those Capital Hill cafeteria employees are considered "essential" and therefore have to show up to work without pay during the shutdown?
53
The interests of the country are more important than those of the federal workers. It’s unfortunate that the workers are suffering but the whining is excessive. Trump and the GOP own the shutdown...how many of those workers voted and if so, did they vote GOP?
3
Every federal worker not in the DC area should be calling his or her senator, because the House is ready to open the government back up and get these people paid.
12
If your not part of the Trump family or inner circle, you don't matter. For the base that he loves so much I hope they are enjoying not receiving a paycheck also.
I don't hear any of the corporations doing anything for the people who buy there products. Where is Facebook, google millions, guess in the people who are trying to take away democracy bank accounts.
3
Seems a good way to pare down the government and figure who's really needed--10% cut might be a good start.
3
Wow. Typical callous response from a right winger. These are real people and their livelihood that they’re talking about here. People who work hard and who, through no fault of their own, suddenly find themselves without their income. Is it even possible for people like you to think of anyone but yourselves?
14
@Ajvan1
Nothing to do with "right wing"--Grand Collective deep-swamp gov'ment is the problem, not the solution despite what Pelosi and Schumer might believe to the contrary.
3
Trump had agreed to sign the bill passed by the Senate. He watched television pundits discuss how it would weaken his hold on his base if he didn't build his wall. He then changed his position, based on what Talking Heads spewed on television, literally overnight and now, here we are. This is ALL on Trump and the Republicans who enable him. And the worst part is he is doing it NOT because he truly believes it is best for the USA or because the majority of Americans want it but for purely political self-preservation reasons. Federal workers who voted for him have themselves to blame but the rest of us are being used as sacrificial lambs when we had no say in the matter.
25
At least pawns are sacrificed for some greater objective. There is no objective here but a power contest.
11
Regarding the 800,000 Federalized workers who have been furloughed as a result of the so-called “government shutdown,” I would like to share my experience last night going through passport control at the Miami International Airport.
Once or twice a year, I go through the MIA passport control, which most of the time is quite chaotic, but last night it ran much more smoothly and efficiently than I have ever experienced, serving passengers arriving in the USA on dozens of overseas flights.
ICE accomplished this feat with a minimal staff, a skeleton crew if you will, in which most everyone with clean documentation was routed into a single line to who present their official documents to legally enter the country to two agents. That’s right only two agents! Usually there are dozens of agents, many just milling around, working passport control, and despite their presence, the multiple lines are long and move slowly. This was not the case at all last night.
When I worked as a contractor for the federalized government in the 1990s, I worked a week on TDY at one of the DOE National Labs, which had just experienced a layoff as the result of a significant budget cut. I asked the Program Manager about how the cut affected his area. He said to me that sometimes working with less gets more done.
Obviously, I witnessed that last night at MIA, in which passport control operated far more smoothly and efficiently with fewer agents on duty as normal.
MAGA! Thank you.
7
You just do not get it- oh it is all about you -lack of empathy and compassion -hallmark of Trumpers
19
Anecdotal argument...confirmation bias...you've got to be kidding.
14
@Southern Boy Looks like the people in the know don't agree with you, travel more dangerous now at airports.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/air-travel-safety-amid-government-shutdown_us_5c2f8070e4b0407e908b059c
9
The wall is less than 0.2% of the budget and much less than we spend on foreign aid to say Egypt and Israel. It could be paid for and more by not paying back the Federal workers for time not worked (like nearly all private workers).
Trump was elected to build a war and lock Hillary up. I say the Democrats should agree to building the wall NOW before the demand is escalated to build the wall and lock Hillary!
We are in this mess because the DNC rigged the vote against Sanders. This is on the Democrats, despite Trump wanting to take credit for much that he did not do.
8
@Professor Ice I spent a decade with the Customs Service. Can you, or anyone, cite a source that a wall will actually cause a decline in smuggling or illegal entry? Staffing only allows a small percentage of vehicles and pedestrians to be adequately controlled at our border points where the problem is. But does anyone, including the media, actually care about facts these days?
8
What do you think the chances are that Hillary will actually get locked up? What do you think the chances are that the wall will actually be funded by Mexico?
5
Government workers are less than pawns, they are not even in the box, let alone the board.
Derided by elected officials and candidates of all parties. Victimized for votes. Villianized for headlines. Scorned by the public.
Why?
8
Perhaps people will think about supporting and voting for the qualified presidential candidate next time.
12
Trump governs by blackmail. That's what the family separation policy was and that what the Trump shutdown is. The sad thing is Trump is blackmailing the Democrats, but the federal workers have to pay the ransom.
9
All politicians and federal workers shouldn't be paid anyway. When one hears "Oh...the sacrifice for the greater good" and "...dedicated to public service for years"? They don't mention that small little detail that they are paid 174K a year. Give me a break, I mean give me a break! Why do we hold these people in high esteem? Are they any better than a fireman or policeman or teacher? Politicians don't even work a whole year! There is no argument folks. Oh...trump did say Mexico will pay for his wall and the shutdown is all his. That is all, have a great weekend.
2
@Scott Franklin You learned all that at Arizona State????
5
I recommend that you explore a government job to give you better perspective. Since you are in AZ maybe look at border patrol jobs. Look at the starting salary for those and the job description. Would you do that for free? I believe you are confusing what government workers do with what politicians do.
5
I heard a coast guard member interviewed yesterday. His wife is also a member of the coast guard and they both voted for Trump. And, they support the wall and would absolutely be for what Trump is doing except for one thing....they are being personally affected by the shutdown. Believe me, I feel that they are caught in the middle. But, really, you can only think this needs to be solved because you are personally affected. Ever hear of empathy? An earlier article in the Times said Trump has never mentioned the workers during this entire shutdown. He has been itching for this fight and now he has it. But, don’t spread the blame. The onus is on Trump.
184
@Suzanne Victor
yes he did mention them, he claimed they were all democrats.
25
@Suzanne Victor Empathy and ‘Trump voter’ in the same sentence?
21
@Suzanne Victor
"I feel that they are caught in the middle"
It's about time they find out who they voted for!
35
On social media, you will be hard-pressed to find any reference to this travesty: the President and Congress shutting down the people’s government. Posts involving identity-based silos of American life still abound. If it’s about gender or race, the bubbles peopled by liberals are overflowing with outrage. Shut down the government we ALL depend on, and not a squeak. In no other democracy would such a situation be tolerated by its citizens. So why are we sitting on our hands?
6
Government workers aren't "'pawns,'" they're hostages. President Trump is holding federal workers hostage unless he gets the $5.6 billion ransom he demands for his wall. This is disgraceful and criminal behavior for someone whose job is to "serve and protect" us. Trump has to realize that he's a minority president and the majority (almost two-thirds) of Americans do not want the wall. This is just the latest example of his disregard for majority rule in a democracy for his "rule of Trump" autocracy. Congress needs to stand up to the autocratic hostage-taker and pass a clean veto-proof budget. Once you give in to a hostage-taker, he'll only do it again.
20
@Paul Wortman
Completely agree. Never negotiate with 'terrorist' Trump.
8
Trump doesn't care about other people. He doesn't care that his stubbornness is making others suffer. He still gets to feed his face and live in his public housing even if he isn't doing his job. Yes, I know the president pays for his own groceries but he can afford it.
He may not have ever meant to campaign about building a wall, it may have just spilled out one day and became his theme song. He also promised that Mexico would pay, so why does he need five billion from us? He doesn't want to back down and seem weak to his supporters, even if many will go hungry or can't pay their bills. He will stubbornly stick to his guns. He can't even conceive of being wrong. What a poor excuse for a president.
10
The blame for this dangerous shutdown rests squarely on Trump and his enabler McConnell. The Democrats have offered compromises and even Vice President Pence has done so, to no avail. McConnell refuses to bring a serious compromise proposal to a vote even though it is identical to a measure passed by the senate just weeks ago. The Democrats are doing all they can. McConnell and most of his fellow GOP cowards do not even have the spine to show up and vote!
10
“I don’t particularly blame a particular party; I think it’s across the board,” Ms. King said. “They need to think about the people.”
Perhaps if media such as the New York Times reported that only one particular party wants the government shut down, and that another particular party, now controlling the House, voted unanimously (in its caucus) to re-open the government, the unfortunate Ms. King would have a more accurate opinion.
The "both sides are partisan extremists" default frame for political news is very, very strong in our country, and in the media. It certainly has been so here at the Times. ("Trump called on Russia to interfere in our election! And Hillary has emails!"). But it's never too late to realize that that frame is broken.
One party is using all its power to reopen the government. The other is using all its power to keep it shut down. These are facts, that would seem relevant to an article devoted to the Government shutdown. It is most regrettable that these facts do not appear here.
16
@TMSquared You are absolutely right! The Media--except for a few on-line sources--has this terrible disease of "Well, but so does the other side." The facts are that there is not now, and has never been, a serious left in this country. That Democrats want what pretty much everyone wants--health care for everyone at a decent price like every other industrialized country--that only means that Democrats are logical, only slightly left of the Grinch.
12
Time for a Federal worker walk-out starting with the Secret Service and Capitol Police.
15
All the maintenance and cleaning crews assigned to the Capitol should call in sick. Once the toilets start overflowing, that should get Congress's attention.
16
The person on charge of this fiasco is none other than a president who appears believe that Mongolia is coming across our southern border...as did China in the 7th century A.D. at which time they constructed a wall.
He does not have the votes in either chamber of Congress and , like an angry three year old , he shuts down the government and holds the entire country hostage for ransom.
This is called blackmail and it is a crime punishable by imprisonment...which is exactly what this pretender to the throne deserves . This administration is a criminal enterprise aided and abetted by its allies in the Kremlin.
17
These victimized federal workers are as expendable to the Fake President as Trump University students, his casino vendors, real estate development contractors, project investors, his betrayed wives, Europe, America, ...
19
@John Grillo - and Canada, your northern, nearest, (nicest) neighbour. (And yes, we spell some words differently sometimes but that makes us quaint)
5
Yes MJM, "and Canada". Why does our Fake President have such problems with America's most loyal, dependable, and trustworthy co-democracies? To answer my own question, it is clear that he prefers the company of authoritarians, dictators, and totalitarians more.
4
Tough times indeed, but anybody not blaming a particular party is dead wrong. This shutdown is entirely Trump's fault, and thus the Republican party's doing. I hope all these Federal workers realize, Trump doesn't care about them, Trump is acting against their interests, and Trump is a destructive influence on America.
If anyone doesn't realize this, and chooses to support Trump despite all his nonsense and lies, then I have no sympathy for them at all.
28
"...and we seem to be pawns.”
NOT PAWNS! But hostages, held by the Extortionist-in-Chief himself, who is stupidly proud of his role in this unfolding tragedy.
The people need to rise up, and carry signs like protestors of yore, demanding that the Boss put them back to work.
Or, if not, pay them out of his own deep pockets. In dollars, please, not rubles.
17
Anybody not getting paid should stay home—including air traffic controllers. That would get Congress’s attention. No pay—no work.
Let the garbage pile up in mcConnell’s Office; no toilet paper? That’s what happens.
21
Congress should not get a paycheck during the shut down. No trips for Trump either.
21
Perhaps it's time for "essential" gov't workers to call in sick, starting with the Secret Service!
13
You are pawns, worse, hostages to the flip-flopping whims of the impetuous, 8-yr old acting POTUS some of you voted for. Tired of winning yet? I'm sorry for all of you; especially the contractors who aren't on an unplanned paid vacation. We all know Federal employees will be paid for this time off and it won't go against your annual leave or sick leave. It's the contractors that are taking the brunt of this shutdown. They are hung out to dry financially. Future bids on Government contracts will either be modified to buffer against shutdowns in the future, or, I would include a clause in my bid, allowing compensation in the case of a shutdown, and a penalty.
The "they" in this article are the POTUS and Senate "leader".
6
Trump's vanity wall.
This is the price our citizens pay for his narcissism.
11
Trump and McConnell, his Trumplican puppet and defender, have placed innocent Federal workers in severe financial jeopardy. There is no equivocation here - Trump wants his "Great Wall of Trump" and he will do anything to build himself this concrete monument that can be seen from space. What an ass.
It is simply WRONG. It won't work. It is environmentally destructive. It would waste HUNDREDS of BILLIONS of taxpayer money before its completion; money that should be used for healthcare, infrastructure, education, environment, research, job re-training - any number of real, essential goals.
Trump's only "tool" is concrete (and cheap Chinese steel), so everything he sees is in that context. He is a caveman with a rock, with the same level of experience and knowledge. He is YOUR fake president. Perhaps YOU think hanging shelves from paper clips is brilliant, as does Trump, it the rest of us know better.
YOUR fake president says he is an expert on technology - "drones and things". He can't spell drone let alone understand what it does or how to use it. He does not read. He does not listen. He does not learn and he does not belong anywhere near government. He is no expert in anything crept lying and propaganda. Let him run his own crooked company into the group - not OUR nation.
12
Thanks Nancy
4
To the one percent rich, all small people are subhuman.
1
@St.John
It was Eric Trump who spoke of opponents as "not really people".
From whom would Eric have learned this?
9
"Seem to be"?
2
Mitch McConnell just adjourned the Senate until Tuesday, unwilling to work through this debacle and unwilling to let the Senate vote on the very same bill it overwhelmingly passed last week that might end the shutdown, unless Trump were to veto it. It seems pretty clear that Republicans are great at obstruction. Bu, actually legislating and governing, not so much.
104
@J. The GOP has demonstrated it hasn’t a clue of how to govern.
10
If the Republican senators want to fly home for the weekend, I sincerely hope TSA sticks it to them at the airports.
Mitch McConnell needs to be replaced as Senate leader, now.
21
How many billions will be lost on this game of chicken to deny Trump his 5?
12
@Hypocrisy 101
trump is the villain here and any other spin is ludicrous.
He wants another thing to hang his name on at the peoples expense. We are all paying for a lot of his exuberant luxuries, he makes out like the bandit he is. This job was to feed his ego and line his pockets. He doesn't give a damn about anybody....he is not capable. Besides he promised Mexico was going to pay for it, why isn't his base calling him out on it. It is their taxes he spends foolishly and not to their benefit!
22
@Hypocrisy 101 So pay the ransom?
4
@Hypocrisy 101 it is more like a game of chicken to deny innocent government workers of their livelihood. Trump previously agreed to a solution and backed off after Fox news dinged him. This is 100% Trump's doing.
10
Too much government? I wonder why those who don't like government and are happy to see it shut down, believe everyone should carry a gun, and want to be free to do their own thing, don't move to Somalia? Just askin' . . . .
49
@Distant Observer
Why go all the way to Somalia? Just move to Texas!
Just answering...
9
@Distant Observer
As long as the Bill of Rights exist, no need to. Just sayin' … .
Don't be "pawns". Stop whining. Take action. Fight back. How about a grand non-violent sit-in around the White House and the Capitol? Shut THEM down.
31
We protested with our vote and now we will march and hold the GOP accountable. Pro democracy people refuse to be walked on by a traitor to our country
6
This opposition, "NO WALL", just because it's Trump, is just stupid. $5Bil? How much hardware did we leave in Iraq, How much will we leave in Syria? How much in Afghanistan? "The wall will do no good." Right now, and for the last 30-40 years, we've done NOTHING. 22 million illegal aliens here now. NOTHING has been done. Apparently, the Democrats want nothing to be done. $5 billion is a drop in the bucket compared to the lives lost in the Middle East. I don't particularly care for Trump, but I really don't like opposing things just because it's the other side of the aisle .
Do SOMETHING. What's wrong with you guys?
13
@BorisRoberts WHAT will he close the government down for NEXT? Have you thought of that? The wall is an idiotic concept and will do little to stop the flow of illegals and drugs into this country. What about tunnels? Shall we build a wall a few hundred feet down into the earth? Why not? We cannot allow the closure of our government to be a pawn in the wall fantasy.
18
@BorisRoberts
I don't oppose the wall because it's a Trump idea. I oppose it because it's a bad idea.
I don't care who pays for it.
1. It's ineffective. Most illegal aliens come here on tourist or work visas, and overstay. To correct that, we need more personnel to track those folks and detain them. A wall doesn't do that.
2. It's environmentally destructive. The government has waived 28 environmental laws, including the Endangered Species Act, to allow construction. That kind of damage can't be undone, and it serves no purpose.
3. It destroys private property and businesses. Where are the property rights advocates in this debate? Again, we're destroying people's land for no good reason.
4. Finally, I agree that $5 billion is a drop in the bucket. It will cost many times that to build and maintain this useless monstrosity.
If Obama, Clinton, or Sanders had proposed something idiotic like this, I'd fight them, too.
21
@BorisRoberts Trump said Mexico would pay. Are you not outraged that he now wants the taxpayer to cover it? Trump himself said on live TV that he would take full responsibility for the shutdown and would not blame the democrats. Trump is now saying he will veto what a few weeks ago he said he would approve. He needs to re-open the government and negotiate. This is 100% on Trump.
19
For those who support the current WH cabal and the Klown republican senators who have no backbone whatsoever, using the wall as an excuse is pitiful, to say the least. Yes, I do want security but security I have in mind is our infrastructure like rails, roads, tunnels, bridges, ports and airports and not some stupid wall. Another wall I like to address is the wall of IGNORANCE that most Americans like to keep in their hearts and minds toward others they don't know or even CARE to know and understand. The emperor Trump fiddles while hard-working federal employees aren't being paid. We are asking those employees who work to safeguard the US to work without pay is a damn shame America! When something EVIL does strike while this unfortunate event is happening, look in the mirror where the problem truly begins on November 2016. I for one will pray mightly for safety and peace in this ungrateful country we profess we love and not the people who are already here and those coming here.
27
The people who are being forced to work without pay should be the ones to end this. Just report to work and don’t do anything. Just sit there and tell them you’re here but not doing a thing until someone pays me. This is complete crap. Especially for the poorest of the contract workers, the cleaning crews and food servers who like away are the people that get hurt the most. There was no need for this shutdown. There is no need for that stupid wall. This entire game that is hurting so many people and it’s all over a dumb wall that Old Donald boy wants to blow 5.6 billion dollars on. Why not just distribute that 5.6 billion dollars to these workers and everyone else who is poor? It is plainly obvious that not a single member of congress or that fake president cares in the least for the citizens of this country.
48
@David Parchert
"Report to work and don't do anything".
Sounds like their typical day now...
1
Donald Trump made a promise--to end the "carried interest deduction and other special interest loopholes" (like commercial real estate goodies he benefitted from?) where people, in his words, are “getting away with murder.” Now he has a chance to keep that promise. If he wants money for the “wall”, where he’s breaking his promise about who will pay for it, let him keep his tax promise so that the funding for enhanced border security is addressed at the same time. This should not take away from infrastructure, education, healthcare, real defense, aid to the poor and programs worthy of our dollars.
Trump and Democrats should agree to close egregious tax loopholes, fix DACA (permanently), and Trump can have a portion of the incremental revenue from those tax changes for the next three years to spend on selected border security measures that make sense. Everyone would have to truly compromise.
18
@Lee
That's the problem. By both his words *&* deeds, Trump has shown that his idea of "compromise" is that the other side does 100% of the giving & he does nothing at all.
Down home here we have a few other, more accurate, words for that sort of attitude.
10
If it’s true that all the suffering described here is due simply to the Dems unwillingness to allow Donald Trump to fulfill a campaign promise, regardless is border security is in the Nation’s overall best interest, I say more power to them; they’re showing who they really are from the onset, and best we know who’ll be driving the car for the next two years so we can really buckle up tightly. Hopefully we’ll be back in Syria before too long as well with double the force, just to spite Trump. He might want to consider Gitmo rather than MarAlogo as a place to get away to relax on weekends and holidays.
12
@John Doe
Trump might belong in Gitmo - so okay with that.
This is a TRUMP shutdown - don’t tell me you didn’t say how proud he would be to claim it? Or do you think he just doesn’t think before speaking, or he lies? I’m okay with that too! See we can be friends.
Democrats passed reasonable bills - on Day ONE to open the Government and get all these people back to work. You might not have heard about it - check it out, it makes sense, it would work. McConnel won’t bring it up to the Senate because he thinks Trump won’t sign it. Why not? Ask that question, but first look up the bills the House passed and tell me why they shouldn’t be brought up in the Senate. Bet some Republican Senators would even vote for them.
8
@John Doe What happened to Trump's claim that he would take on the mantle of the shutdown? Have you forgotten his joy in taking on that responsibility?
9
Of course the government workers are being used as pawns. When working they show up, do their jobs, and have no say in developing policy.
Congress is not doing it's job. Trump especially is not doing his job. But, it's the rank and file who have nothing to add to their bank account, pension, 401K, and now lack health care.
Trump is holding government workers as hostage to his false promises and sound bites. When will someone tell him that the budget is what causes this country to operate, and that a wall is a policy matter? He seems incapable of understanding not only basic politics, but also that people are needlessly suffering.
34
@Seanachie
Worse yet, he doesn't seem to care even if he *did* understand. Gee, if only someone had said something to warn folks. Oh, wait....
9
Workers don't "seem to be" pawns, they are pawns.
On a chess board, the master moves the players around according to a set of rules. The pawns, being the most numerous and expendable pieces, are often sacrificed to promote the interests of the more powerful pieces.
Does that sound familiar?
In our case, the king, queen, bishops, rooks and knights have rigged to the rules so that the pawns are easier to sacrifice, while the higher ranking players have more rights. That's why when you fire a CEO, they get millions, a director gets a year's severance, while a worker gets considerably less or nothing.
51
Didn't the President write a book called "The Deal?" And isn't that book about how to reach a compromise?
And isn't the very premise of any negotiation that neither side will get everything that it wants, but both sides can see enough common ground to reach an agreement?
So far the presidents idea of a deal is "you give me what I want or else."
Also, the GOP ran congress for two years. Why didn't they give the president his wall?
80
Trump didn’t write that book. He had to hire an actual writer to do it.
14
Well the book was called "The Art of the Deal", but Trump did not write it, it was written by a ghost writer. Trump has never written anything longer than a tweet. And he's never been good at making deals, what he is skilled at is lying constantly no matter how readily people refute his lies.
22
@drspock
They did, but apparently a lot of that money is still unspent.
3
Here’s an idea for furloughed federal government workers: call GOP senators and members of the House asking them to reopen the government, and include examples of hardship. Also mention that Trump’s campaign “promise” was Mexico was to pay, not taxpayers. Be polite but forceful.
At some point the madness must end.
116
@Demosthenes
Tell McConnell to bring the bills just passed in the House to the Senate. It’s a reasonable compromise, it would get these folks back to work and keep funding for border security open for further discussion.
Passing bills is the job of the Senate. McConnell won’t let them do their job!!! Why is he getting paid while these hard working folks aren’t?
20
@Demosthenes -That didn't work the last time around.
We have always been a reactive political culture; we rarely plan in advance, we always seem to wait until the worst has happened before we do anything. It usually takes a catastrophe of a certain magnitude before we actually sit down and propose policies that would have prevented or mitigated the disaster in the first place.
So it is that we've ended up with a government incapable of even keeping itself operating, much less implementing anything that might actually have a positive impact on the nation. Go down the list of public priorities --- health care, education, infrastructure, the environment, housing, immigration, terrorism, the economy, civil rights, drugs, global trade, energy --- and if you find any legislation at all, it's short term and/or politically motivated. Of the 2 most important pieces of legislation, the ACA and the 2018 tax cuts, the former has been under relentless political attack even though it benefited millions of people, and the latter was a blatant political gift to corporations and the wealthy.
This train wreck of closing down the government for months on end was entirely predictable given the way congress operates in conjunction with Trump. Even a cursory analysis reveals that McConnell's motivations are a political calculus, having nothing to do with whatever real pain real people are feeling.
So, now that we have our catastrophe at hand, and the 2020 elections on the horizon, what will we do to make sure it doesn't happen again?
24
It's clear there is a need for legislation that prohibits representatives, senators and the president from ever shutting down the federal government for political purposes. Each and every one supporting the shutdown doesn't deserve to hold office. They are putting their opinions and interests above the welfare of hardworking Americans they are supposed to serve. This would be one way to begin righting the ship of state.
31
Part of the reason the shutdown exists at all is its limited inconvenience. Many suggest legislators not be paid while the government is unfunded. That’s fine, but still not enough. Most congressmen are too wealthy to worry about a paycheck.
Much better and more principled would be to remove the classification of “essential” personnel.
We are forcing people to come to work unpaid, without even the promise of payment. Their only reward is keeping their jobs. How is that different from bondage?
We’ve come close, but the United States has never missed a payment on its debts. The bondholders always get paid. Yet somehow the debt for services rendered — essential services, supposedly — need not be honored.
The price of failing to govern would be much higher without the legal authority to force “essential” workers to work without pay. It would put the pressure where it belongs. And it’s really only fair to those who currently are being exploited for political gain.
39
@James K. Lowden
I like your idea of the reclassification of "essentials".
Imagine how fast this would have been resolved if the SS was deemed the same "essential" level as the guy picking up bags in the Washington Mall.
Would have been settled 13 days ago.
3
@James K. Lowden
You are mistaken. The people classified as excepted (not "essential") are guaranteed to be paid for the hours they work on excepted functions. So my colleague who has to come in to handle certain mail will have to justify every minute she spends on that function (and will have to come into the office every day for 10 minutes, half an hour, maybe an hour of work). As for back pay for the other 7 odd hours a day she isn't allowed to work? She is dependent on the kindness of Congress and the President like the rest of us.
1
To me, it’s like a political chess game that they’re playing, and we seem to be pawns.”
Sir, I wish Trump and the GOP treated you like pawns. Only amatuers treat pawns as disposable. Those with experience defend pawns with nearly the same intensity as their most valuable pieces. Winners don't waste pawns.
14
and there you have it: strictly amateur night in Dixie.
2
Not to be in any way disrespectful to federal employees and employees of contractors who do the necessary and important work of keeping the country safe and running, but I'm not sure they even rank as pawns on the chess board of politics. That would imply they have a small voice of the decision making process. They don't. They are collateral damage from political bomb throwing by wealthy politicians who have no concept of trying to live on a normal paycheck and don't respect that a functioning government is a necessity in a civilized society.
22
I wonder if Trump even knows 800,000 workers are in financial limbo because of him. I think Trump is using “The Wall” to try to protect himself from being held accountable for his inexcusable actions as President.
15
@Javaforce
You mean because of the inexcusable actions of the Democrats
@DAB
Isn't the campaign promise that Mexico will pay for the wall? They will keep coming as along as employers like Trump keep hiring them! 12 undocumented workers were at the Bedminster Golf course up until last month - you would think that he would have cleaned house since immigration is at the top of his list. Trump is a total fraud...It will take decades to undo the damage he has inflicted on our country.
13
This is the only thing Trump knows how to do: drive people into bankruptcy and then declare bankruptcy himself. Not paying people is the main component of his “business model.” That’s how he operated in the private sector, and that’s how he’s operating now. The kicker? We’ve always known this about him.
106
Government workers are not the only pawns.
"We the people" are pawns for the politicians who use us to climb on the Freeload Express that they vote for themselves.
This is what WE pay for them.
Paid retirement after a few years "serving".
Paid medical insurance.
Paid "vacations" . (How many vacations does the average American citizen get?) How many times a year do members of congress "leave town."
The list goes on. (and on and on) .
9
I'd like to see and hear Mitch McConnell explain exactly why government is being shutdown over Donald Trump's Border Wall.
There is no reason Donald Trump can't build his Border Wall right now, the American Taxpayers have no part of this campaign promise that Donald Trump made to his hardcore base throughout the 2016 campaign.
Didn't Donald Trump say over and over again, that Mexico would pay for the Wall, 100%?
It seems to me that the Border Wall issue is between Donald Trump and Mexico, not us.
So, Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell, should talk to Mexico and have them provide the direct funding to build the Wall, or you can shut down Mexico's government; but leave the American Taxpayers and American Federal Employees out of it.
18
@Chico Right. We'll just tell Mexico to pay for the wall. And what do you have in mind to do when they say no? Start a war because our so-called president is having a temper tantrum?
The shutdown will be over when Rush Limbaugh and the talking heads at Fox News decide it should be over. Unfortunately, while these people are now running the government, they are still getting paid.
17
@Joyce - I think "while these people are now RUINING the government" would be more accurate.
4
The House just passed the same exact bill that the Senate passed just before 12/21, Mr. McConnell is the only thing holding up a return to "normal" government function (whatever that is these days). Maybe it's time for everyone els to take a hard look at the the people they send to Washington to represent them and whether or not they are really representing their constituents appropriately.
Also, please don't not forget about the contractors, subcontractors, office cleaners, cafeteria workers and other businesses who depend on patronage from those who are not being paid. They are the real casualties and some of those businesses will not survive if this goes on much longer.
Is this how we make America great again?/s
29
@ES
Mitch has a hard time of thinks.
If he ever thought of developing a spine, Donnie would likely make life worse for his wife, Elaine Chao, who is currently in a cabinet Secretary position, in return, making Mitch's life even more miserable than it already is, playing lion-tamer to an insane president without the benefit of a chair, whip or pistol.
"Happy Wife, happy life" as the adage goes, except this is the flip side of that coin.
Poor, poor, Mitchie. Welcome to the latest member of the underworld! Your mailing addresses will be the 6th, 7th, 8th & 9th circles on alternate millenia......
1
For all the external riches we display in the form of houses, cars, “good” neighborhoods, vacations, our country’s workforce is in a perpetual state of one paycheck away from disaster. We’re a house of cards, built on sand.
18
Who is surprised that Trump isnt paying workers? You don’t like it? Sue him.
This is his business model. Always has been.
48
@Andre
And federal employees aren't *allowed* to sue their employer. How much better could it get for DT? "So sue me. Oh, wait...."
3
I wonder if Trump even feels the weight of the "mantle" he said he'd be proud to own, but has now tried to shift (as we all knew he would) to the Democrats.
11
@Larry You're suggesting that he feels anything!
6
Government workers are not pawns, they are characters in this episode of Trump's reality show. Their pain, suffering, and humiliation is the entertainment for a horrified, or disgusted, or thrilled audience, and Trump is the star. And it seems to be on every channel.
16
Yes, the workers are the pawns, as one worker said, and Trump thinks he's king with his Republicans there to protect him, but Pelosi is my queen, Mueller is my knight in shining armor, and I'm hoping for some good wins this year.
12
Trump says those struggling are Democrats.Republicans don’t struggle.
Yup if you were handed a HUGE tax cut, you wouldn’t be struggling either.
7
This should come as no surprise. A person who created his fortune by cheating, evading laws and defaulting on payments workers was never going to behave differently in this office.
When someone shows you who they are, believe them!
40
Ask the Senators and Congressional members and President Trump himself to donate 1 month's salary to a charitable organization with outreach across the country.
So what happens when the TSA employees stop showing up for work and the entire airport system is closed. Working without pay used to be called slavery. Kind of hard to show up for work when there is no gas in the car and you have no money. Will Trump be proud to own this situation?
22
@James He'll continue as he has always done - blame everyone else, especially the Democrats. He believes he is a saint.
2
As a federal worker, I do wish that when we shut down the government, we shut it all down and that essential workers weren't forced to work without pay. Maybe then, when social security checks aren't issued, Medicare reimbursements are not made, federal investigations not pursued, and TSA workers don't screen who gets on the plane, the public at large would have a greater appreciation for what the hardworking federal workforce actually does--keeps a civilized country running. I do get frustrated by stereotypes of the federal worker as an overpaid shiftless bureaucrat.
383
@acblack if the shoe fits...
2
@acblack You can't shut down a federal prison. Perhaps you think we should just let them all out?
7
@acblack Its a myth the GOP and folks like Grover Nordquist like to perpetuate so they can then defund and in turn under-oversight violators. It allows the Kochs to pollute under the guise of patriotism. It allows Evangelicals to violate all manner of income tax fraud and never be brought to justice.
41
Government workers are seen as the “deep state” by many Republicans. So hurting them, driving them to quit, getting many to take early retirement, and stopping bright folks to consider working for “big government” (remember “govt is the problem” - Ronald Reagan) is a GREAT way to shrink government.
The budget deficit and national debt are balooning out if control under a Republican administration - why? On purpose!
Bankrupting big government and the deep state is the best way to shrink it. The huge deficit and debt are on purpose.
The media has missed both of these stories.
205
The working middle class are always the pawns. Always being told that things will get better and that it will all “trickle down”. The Trump/GOP tax cut is just another example of misleading and false advertising in order to garner the votes. Anyone that thinks that electing a billionaire businessman, who claims to know the challenges facing everyday Americans and will make government work for us, is delusional. The corporate oligarchs, both here and in Russia, got what they wanted. Nothing will change until we get serious about campaign finance reform and drive out the oligarchs, their corporate lobbyists and the money changers from our temple! We start by overturning Citizens United and eliminating dark money Super PACs.
15
I have great sympathy for these federal employees. They are worse than pawns. They are Trump’s hostages. The best thing these hostages can do is call their senators. However, the enabler, McConnell, is not taking calls, and his answering machine is full.
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@Eugene Phillips
And that was *before* the shutdown.....
7
From the article's title: ‘We Seem to Be Pawns’
No, pawns are important in a chess match. Trump does not consider federal workers or their pain important in his game. to him, in his twisted theater of the absurd, it is only about HIS ego and HIS optics!
14
How about a symbolic March on Washington by the people who do the work? Maybe the President would find out that the people he thinks support him, don't. He would not be able to fabricate the needs of the country by manipulating the holding ofrallies. The House should continue to do their work "by the book." to show who is actually being responsible. In the meantime, the Mueller investigation can continue by finding out what Putin has on the man in the White House.
2
@Joan Staples Man? There is no "man" in the White House - only a spoiled brat who throws temper tantrums when he doesn't get his way.
2
My opinion is that Trump and Putin are figuring out the best way to weaken this country so Trump can be King. Trump is deliberately destroying all our institutions and deliberately weakening our country making us an easy target. Trump doesn't want a wall, he wants a shut down. He could care less about any of those workers who are affected by his shut down. He has been practicing divide and conquer tactics ever since he made his announcement that he was making a run for President. Of course, this is just my opinion, but it is based on what I have observed from all his actions.
18
Trump's wall is his ego. He's willing to sacrifice 800,000 federal employees, and untold millions of Americans who directly or indirectly rely on their work, simply because his ego is not being satisfied. Meanwhile, our nation is being weakened in ways that will become increasingly evident.
9
Reflects Trumps evident disregard of Federal Agencies in general. No one is more important to Trump than Trump himself. Narcissists are not known for their consideration towards others.
9
I was a Federal employee. I even belonged to the Union. The Democrats always said they were our friend. The Union said the Democrats were our friend. But it never stopped them from letting the government shut down. Are the Democrats the friend of the workers, or of people trying to enter the country illegally?
2
@cleo remind us please who actually shut the government down. It was not "the Democrats".
11
@cleo
"never stopped them from letting the government shut down" -- Always referring to a party in the third person, putting all culpability on it, i.e., the "other." Refreshingly nice to see someone openly honest about their agenda. :)
2
Let's not forget -- this is about $5 billion for a provocative--indeed, inflammatory--campaign promise (100%), NOT "border security." Oh, and it's also about Trump's concern that, if he compromises, he'll "look foolish." In other words, it's about the guy saving face with his base.
14
The third government shutdown in 6 years proves how dysfunctional and immoral this government is and they were all led by the Republican majority. The President threatened and boasted about a government shutdown several weeks ago and said he would take responsibility. Now, the President is shifting the blame. Why on earth would he deprive hundreds of thousands of Federal workers of their pay over an issue he created? Adding insult to injury, congress continues to get paid while twiddling their thumbs and pointing fingers. The Wall is President Trump’s creation, he owns it and shifting the blame on the Democrats clearly shows how irrational this President is.
What is even more disturbing, are the silent voices of the GOP majority and their tremendous lack of courage and backbone to stand up to this tyrant and fight for the workers and people. By prolonging this shutdown, President Trump and the GOP are saying Federal workers and the Nation are the expendable ones or should I say sacrificial lambs in order for them to get their way. The corruption and vindictiveness of this President and GOP have gone too far, they are completely out of touch with reality. Unfortunately for the Nation, there seems no end in sight. The government’s moral compass is going downhill and has been dysfunctional for decades but the election of President Trump has accelerated all of that to levels never seen before.
13
It angers me that government workers are being treated so despicably. I would like to see laws in place prohibiting government shutdowns. This is large scale malfeasance -- we are all paying taxes for a functional government, at minimum. Shutting down the government is an effective contractual breach with all Americans.
Some wonder how people dont' have savings to cope with a couple weeks of missed work. I have the same concern -- I hate to see people make themselves that dependent on a weekly paycheck, and so vulnerable to any random payout glitch or even job loss. However, media stories have appeared about the increasing affordability crisis, and the large number of people living paycheck to paycheck. For instance this article:
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/I-see-no-way-out-Living-paycheck-to-paycheck-13495411.php
17
Everything Donald Trump has done throughout his life, let alone his time as President, has demonstrated contempt for working class Americans. So his utter indifference to 800,000 employees missing their paychecks comes as no surprise.
The same goes for the modern GOP in general. As long as they get their tax cuts for billionaires, the rest of us can go hang.
34
A shut down weakens the US at home and abroad. Donald Trump has shown us that his loyalties lay with a foreign power as he creates fake crisis to stall our republic and drag down our economy. In my opinion, Individual #1 is playing for a foreign team
34
Once again Trump has managed to turn what should be a glorious moment in which the Democrats finally have some voice in government into a cartoonish travesty of democracy and put his own narcissistic need to be on the front page at whatever cost ahead of the needs of the working people of the United States.
Thanks again Individual #1.
14
"Pawns"? No. Hostages. Hostages to Donald Trump's vanity, right wing media, and their credulous followers. All over the promise to build an unnecessary wall that Mexico was going to pay for. Tired of winning?
22
Watching the President standing in front of a group of Border Patrol agents the only thing I thought of was since they are not being paid did the White House pay them to show up ?
8
Note to Congressional Republicans:
You hurled us into ridiculous, needless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan whose cost to Americans now exceeds $1 trillion. (Yes, Deplorables: that's Trillion with a "t".)
Given that you pay this kind of money for wars, also pay your American constituents who work with you in the U.S. government. Now!
12
this is not a government shutdown
it's a trump shutdown
it's a republican shutdown
15
@PQ "shakedown" would be more accurate.
4
"I will be proud to shut down the government." That's what our president said. Then he shut it down. That, in itself, is enough to show him the door. He cares about no one and nothing but self. Maybe it's time for every federal employee to strike, not just those who are "furloughed." Maybe Trump will get the idea when his garbage basket in the oval office isn't emptied and his bed isn't made. Let the "little people" speak with their feet. Enough already.
14
@David Kannas
all that is needed is for the penitentiary workers to open the prisons and go home, because they didn't get their pay check.
3
Dear NYT’s
These workers will eventually get paid-
For not working. Please inform your readers that as with the past furloughs the government pays them for not working when this is all over. So 800,000 government workers are on paid vacation til this ends. Gee-I have to work to pay taxes to pay for them not to work, Generous retirements-disability-health care all provided.
6
@one percenter that is a callous ill-informed comment. It is not a paid vacation when no paychecks are being issued. Many are working without pay. Do some research and have some sympathy.
9
@one percenter
none of the many contractor workers will get paid.
Do read the article before you comment on it.
10
@one percenter There is no guarantee that they will get paid. In the meantime, they may lose their house, their car, not be able to pay the debts they budgeted for and will be forever labeled as "deadbeats". All this because the current occupant is having a hissy fit over a wall that will do nothing for security in the U.S. They are not on "vacation". In fact, several are looking for other work but, because they would be considered "short term", the opportunities are very limited.
Your response is just what we have been fighting against for the last many years... a sense of entitlement that has no empathy.
7
It's not "across the board", Ms. King. The shutdown belongs solely to Individual 1 and his party.
13
How many of them voted for Trump?
8
What is really silly is that the federal budget is a massive and complicated beast but it is being held up by a symbolic "wall" which any intelligent person knows is a joke in terms of accomplishing the objective of keeping brown people out of the country. Interesting that it is not being held up due to haggling over infrastructure spending, another campaign promise by individual 1.
21
@justpaul
one wonders if the top dog is getting paid by manufacturers of very high ladders in Mexico.
2
NYT, please refer to this as the Trump Sutdiwn in your headlines and in your text. Call it what it is.
Meanwhile, I hope the workers’ suit against the President is settled quickly.
30
@Susan Higgins "Trump Shake-Down" would be more accurate.
5
I’ve actually learned to understand—but not accept—why my few friends who support this regime, and even this blackmail by the Prez—do so. But I fail to understand how anyone can make excuses for someone who would put 800,000 workers, and therefore an estimated 2.5 million people, in this position of worry, economic strain, and actual hardship. He does not care. If it serves his wider political agenda, Don the Con is fine with causing human suffering. This is why it was so easy for him to promulgate the separation of children from their parents at the southern border. The spoiled, selfish megalomaniac bully is heartless. No big surprise.
99
All 800 thousand federal workers and every single American affected (or who just care), need to contact Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump to let them know, politely, how they feel.
https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contactform
https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
12
@JM - There's this little thing called the Hatch Act which pretty much prevents doing what you're suggesting. There are lots of regulations which affect federal employees which effectively hamstring their ability to function in cases of this sort. We can't strike. We can't refuse to work without pay - we'll be fired. We can't be involved in partisan politics - we'll be fired. We have just been informed that we're not permitted to use the word "resist" (unless we're electricians) - we'll be fired. But thanks anyway.
5
@JM. If you email the White House with any complaint/query, you’ll be forever the recipient of rah-rah updates on Individual-1’s excrescences. However, presently there seems to be no one there at the keyboard to reply to you or to send those tiresome updates. I assume he or she has been furloughed.
2
@JM
sorry, but they won't. Too timid and scared of exposing their name to their owners. Even the Chinese are less scared of the rulers.
2
Republicans have always wanted to drown government in a bathtub. They literally don’t care about having a functioning government. I wonder if this is a coup rehearsal this time.
26
To all you government employees having to work for no pay. Slavery was abolished. No pay, no work.
All you TSA people, call in sick tomorrow, every single one of you. Shut down the airports.
This nonsense would end by the end of the day.
NO PAY, NO WORK
97
@Doremus Jessup
sorry to disappoint you, but the American workers are too week and timid to do such a thing.
I remember once in Buenos Aires, Argentina, people set fire to a train station to show their dissatisfaction. The American workers are too timid and too scared to show their feelings.
3
@Doremus Jessup
I remember PATCO thinking much the same thing 35 or so years ago. BTW, speaking of which, don't forget the air traffic controllers. They're federal employees, & classed as "essential."
I think we all know what *that* means for the present situation.
3
Trump likes to hold those reality TV meetings that show how much he is supposedly doing and act as if he is in charge. Mostly, he uses them like a third world dictator being slobbered by praise from the hired minions.
Can any reporter ask him the following in any of those meetings:
Mr. President: Can you explain to the American people why it isn’t hypocritical for you to shut down the government and lay off hundreds of thousands of ordinary Americans in the name of protecting Americans from “illegals” when you’ve hired many such illegals at your golf courses and Mar-a-Lago. Just recently an “illegal” at Bedminster, one of your Trump properties, acknowledged to have been hired.
70
@Patrician
You are correct! At least 12 undocumented workers at the Bedminster golf club were identified since the expose and subsequently fired. The wall won't stop anyone from coming as long as employers like President Trump are willing to ignore our laws.
12
@Deirdre
Thank you! I couldn’t complete my thought earlier but that was where I was heading. Businesses and employers can do anything and the GOP and right wing media is willing to look the other way. But, people - ordinary Americans - who serve their country can suffer because they (Republicans) don’t believe in the concept of government and would any way like to shrink it down...
8
Vlad the Impaler...Trump the Hostage Taker. Notice that when one of his (criminal) buddies gets in trouble (with the law) he is so concerned about the ruination of their lives, but he cavalierly ends DACA throwing hundreds of thousands of productive and innocent humans into economic uncertainty to satisfy his “base”, or he imposes a policy of child separation causing life long psychic damage to “other people’s children”. Trump is a sociopath...every word out of his mouth is contrived to manipulate the resulting behavior he desires...regardless of the price paid (for Trump U students it was $35,000).
Even when he sounds reasonable and conciliatory he is using a well worn tactic intended to “con” a mark. There is no border security or immigration policy, just hostage taking to get what will satisfy his psychopathic need to vanquish his opponents. He is incapable of feeling empathy for unpaid government workers, but will shamelessly refer to them in hopes of forcing Democrats to cave in or take the blame for his conduct.
He never was the Artiste of the Deal....the deals he cut led to bankruptcy....he found his niche as the Artiste of the Con...eventually his “base” will understand that he conned their vote and took our Democracy hostage.
33
Well, if Ms. King thinks this is "across the board", she better start reading the news. Trump claimed that he would "proudly" own this shutdown. It is on his back and perhaps the 40 members of the Freedom caucus, and McConnell, Trump, the king of the deal, is screwing up things once again. And yes, he does not care about government workers being hurt. As he said, he thinks most of them are Democrats, so he believes they would not vote for him anyway. This is what happens when we elect a grifter for president.
60
The TSA will be the first to seriously falter. It's important to realize that this entity was created in the aftermath of 9-11 and was deliberately kept out of the GSA by republicans who did now want to create any more "government" jobs than they absolutely had to and they wanted to be sure that the salary and benefits would reflect their low opinion of the "working stiffs who are sucking at the public teat of taxpayer money."
When you look at their wages it's easy to imagine that the greatest majority of them are living paycheck-to-paycheck.
Once the airports slow to a crawl then the pressure will be on.
"Mexico will pay for it!" "I won't blame you!"
21
Everyone except 1% GOP contributors and the GOP think tanks is a pawn whether they know it or not. Trump may well be a different pawn, i.e. Putin's useful idiot.
83
@poslug
Comments like these, cheap shots aimed at Trump and his supporters are what will lead to an indefinite shutdown. Trumps supporters are tired of hearing these relentless attacks about controlling migration and the period of compromise has passed for them.
This country has always believed knowing who was entering is a priority and that has not changed.
1
@poslug
You do realize that the household income for a typical federal worker or federal contractor puts them in the top 10 percent of the income distribution. That's not too shabby.
2
@Joe Schmoe
Please state the reliable source where you got this information that you purport is fact.
6
I do feel for the federal workers and those who contract with federal agencies.
Maybe those who voted for Individual-1, are now seeing the true colors. As always, he is throwing everything into one basket with the deluded thought process that he can hold millions of workers hostage for his stupid wall.
He doesn't care about you; he is bringing you direct harm to your life. Do you now feel like you're winning?
218
@MHV Yes trump making America great again. Can you feel it.
11
@Emily
give in to blackmail ... is that your recommendation?
32
@Emily
Because the Democrats did not ask for the shutdown, Trump did. Trump could easily stop this by ending the shutdown he started. Put the blame where it belongs rather than asking the Democrats to give in every time the spoiled child doesn't get his way. That's how a dictatorship works.
Wake up!
59
Illinois went without a budget for a couple of years, as I recall, with the same dynamic -- Republican leader (Governor in Ill.), Democratic legislature. I don't recall how the impasse was resolved, but the process could be instructive. How did Ill. keep a semi-responsive government going at all? Something to consider maybe.
11
@Stephen Beard
Solution to impasse:
Trump won't tell America that he has not even spent 10% of the PREVIOUS $$$ allocated by Congress for border security.
So tell Trump to spend this unused 90% of these previously allocated billions on his 4th century wall.
And the new allocation of $1.6 billion goes to "border security" excluding the wall.
Not Rocket Science, folks!
Trump is appeased.
Pelosi is appeased.
Government's opened.
Problem solved.
Next. Fire McConnell.
5
The government was reopened by Democrats. Illinois’s Democratic rum General Assembly finally got enough GOP votes to override Governor Rauner’s veto. Rauner later paid the price for his unreasonable intransigence: in November he lost by almost 20 points to a Democrat.
11
It's time for all of us to abandon politeness and call this for what it is.
"Seems"?
There is no "seeming" anymore. It has been made abundantly clear by the politicians that little people ARE in fact pawns. Please stop being so polite - it leaves a doubt that this assessment is speculative or untrue, when it is not.
155
Duh ! This is what happens when you have a dysfunctional president. Get used to it or get rid of him...
173