tassosss: Shen Wei Zhao Yunlan Era (Default)
[personal profile] tassosss posting in [community profile] thisfinecrew
Sooo. The government is shut down. For those that want details here's the Vox article: https://www.vox.com/2018/12/22/18141081/government-partial-shutdown-trump-house-senate

ETA: It is a partial government shutdown in that many services and agencies including the Department of Defense are still open since they were forward funded. Additional information about what's open and what's closed is here:
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/12/20/18136667/partial-government-shutdown-post-office-military-passports
Info on DOD: https://news.usni.org/2018/09/28/36944 and the 2019 forward funding bill for DOD, HHS, DOEd https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/6157/all-info


The Senate is reconvening this weekend and negotiations are on-going. ETA: Now they have gone home till next Thursday, Dec 27.

This is the time to call/text/fax your Senators and Representatives to express your displeasure.

You can find scripts at 5calls.org.

On a personal note, my husband is a federal employee and I'm a federal contractor. His agency has a few days grace before he's furloughed, and I'm allowed to telework as long as nothing I do requires access to my worksite, my federal supervisor, or email (*looks at vanishingly small list of projects that applies to*). In addition to disrupting projects and wasting hours and hours untangling what to do, who's considered important enough to work, and all the thousands of details it takes to manage one of the largest workforces in the country, we also aren't getting paid for the duration. Even people who have permission to work are likely not getting paid till this is over. While federal employees will probably get backpay, it's a different story for contractors, which basically varies by contract, and is likely not going to happen immediately because bureaucracy. After the 2013 shutdown I had colleagues who waited 2 YEARS to get paid. And hourly workers like janitorial and cafeteria staff are likely screwed out payment altogether for those furloughed hours. As for services, while many of the most essential will continue to be run, for all the rest they will build up another nightmare backlog that will take months to catch up with. You the thought bureaucracy was bad before....

Happy holidays everyone.

Date: 2018-12-22 08:23 pm (UTC)
sara: S (Default)
From: [personal profile] sara
Well, I've phoned my congressman.

Date: 2018-12-23 01:52 am (UTC)
elf: Many Americans have all the virtues of civilized people (American virtues)
From: [personal profile] elf
Plus, of course, any contractors who have in-demand skills will start looking for other jobs; when the shutdown lifts, some departments are going to find themselves without crucial personnel.

My senators are Harris and Feinstein; my rep is Barbara Lee; I don't think making noise about being unhappy is warranted - there's not much they can do other than "agree to fund the wall," and I don't want that. I want republicans to get off their asses and pass a bill, no matter what P45 says he won't sign.

Because so far, he's signed every single thing put in front of him; he doesn't want to veto anything because then he gets even more hate from the media. He'll sign, and then say it was a bad law, and he was cheated, and they should've given him more time, and they're doing it all wrong, etc. etc. -- but he'll sign.

Date: 2018-12-23 04:03 am (UTC)
shirou: (cloud)
From: [personal profile] shirou
The Vox article fails to note that this shutdown is smaller than the shutdown in 2013 because Congress appropriated 2019 funds to several departments and agencies earlier this year. The Department of Defense, for example, is fully funded. The Vox article is a little misleading when it says active duty military will continue working, when in fact all employees, civil and military, in every DOD agency should be unaffected. The Departments of Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services are also funded.

Sources:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/6157/all-info
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/s3159
https://news.usni.org/2018/09/28/36944

I still think a shutdown is a bad thing, and people--both employees/contractors and those who rely on the government for services--will suffer. However, I've been shocked by how bad the reporting on this topic is. I can't believe how many major news outlets seem to have forgotten that significant parts of the government are funded and remaining operational.

Profile

Never Give Up, Never Surrender

May 2025

S M T W T F S
    1 23
45 6789 10
11 121314151617
181920 21222324
25262728293031

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated May. 28th, 2025 11:25 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios