Shutdown pleases some, irks others in federal workforce

WASHINGTON -- Some federal workers reacted to the government shutdown Monday with anger, some with worry -- and others were happy to have a day off.

The shutdown effectively cleaved the federal workforce in half as hundreds of thousands of workers were sent home while others who were declared essential stayed on the job.

Some took it in stride. Ali Niaz, a Department of Labor employee who was sent home after reporting to work Monday, said he decided to take advantage of the shutdown discounts being offered around the city. He ended up at Logan Tavern, where he watched news of the shutdown on an overhead TV.

Niaz, 24, said he "could have used a couple more days" of being furloughed, then had a question for the bartender.

"Are the same deals going to be offered next month when the government shuts down again?" he said.

J. David Cox, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 700,000 federal and D.C. government workers, said his members were exasperated with the inability of Congress and President Donald Trump to negotiate a budget.

"We can't be the ball for the pingpong game," Cox said after Senate Democrats dropped their objections to a temporary funding bill in return for assurances from Republican leaders that they will soon take up immigration and other hot-button issues.

"There's still a lot of confusion," he said. "There's still not a done deal. There's apprehension that this could still fall apart."

Felicia Sharp, a laboratory technician with the Defense Department at Fort Belvoir in northern Virginia, said the whiplash that occurs when employees are furloughed, only to return to work shortly thereafter, can make it difficult to plan.

For instance, people who were supposed to be on leave Monday were required to come to work to fill out paperwork confirming their furlough, which now appears to be at an end.

Sharp, who also serves as a local president for the American Federation of Government Employees, was deemed essential and reported to work Monday. During the 2013 shutdown, which lasted more than two weeks, she took on two part-time jobs to make sure her bills were paid.

Even if there is a deal that keeps government open for a few weeks, "it only just postpones the inevitable for a while," she said. When the next deadline approaches, "it will be the same situation all over again."

Information for this article was contributed by Denise Lavoie and Ashraf Khalil of The Associated Press.

A Section on 01/23/2018