Official Government Shutdown 2023 Thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trying to find a last minute cruise that would begin Oct 2-8. Will take my work laptop with me just in case. The last shutdown 35 days long was great but I stayed home. Only live once…

Also, sorry for contractors, but they make 30% more than Fed so they can kiss my a

You sound like a number of my friends who are federal workers. They are literally giddy with excitement for a shutdown. Keep telling everyone "we get a paid vacation!" I don't say a word but I am seeing them in a different light.

I don’t know what your friends do, but they’re lucky. In my role, and my few close friends who are feds, we’re all either exempt (so work with delayed pay) or the queue of work increases in our absence and we have to put in unpaid overtime when the shutdown ends (this is my situation and it sucks). Good for your friends, but lots of us aren’t happy about this at all.

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Exactly this. I will be buried when I get back, and some things will have moved forward without my involvement even though I’ll be held accountable for what I miss. There were several things that I was looped out of last time because counterparts were excepted or funded and I was not. Didn’t stop the PTB from complaining that I didn’t “do something” about whatever happened.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trying to find a last minute cruise that would begin Oct 2-8. Will take my work laptop with me just in case. The last shutdown 35 days long was great but I stayed home. Only live once…

Also, sorry for contractors, but they make 30% more than Fed so they can kiss my a

You sound like a number of my friends who are federal workers. They are literally giddy with excitement for a shutdown. Keep telling everyone "we get a paid vacation!" I don't say a word but I am seeing them in a different light.

I’m looking forward to having the building to myself again. Like during the pandemic.

Np, and same. I will have to work but look forward to less traffic, an empty building, and the quiet so I can work in peace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a fed and if there is a shutdown I’m literally screwed. I have a huge project due and this will screw me to no end. I don’t who these people are rooting for a shut down. My entire team has a timeline and we keep staring at it thinking, well, what happens now?

oh please. I guess you'll just have to adjust your timeframes. I think everyone will understand.

INP: I work on an annual project. The year will not get longer. If this year is late we are shorting next year. We will put in extra unpaid hours and cut some corners too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a fed and if there is a shutdown I’m literally screwed. I have a huge project due and this will screw me to no end. I don’t who these people are rooting for a shut down. My entire team has a timeline and we keep staring at it thinking, well, what happens now?

oh please. I guess you'll just have to adjust your timeframes. I think everyone will understand.

INP: I work on an annual project. The year will not get longer. If this year is late we are shorting next year. We will put in extra unpaid hours and cut some corners too.

Same. Funds expire at the end of the FY, and we have to complete the work before then, with a truncated timeline. It was very stressful last time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trying to find a last minute cruise that would begin Oct 2-8. Will take my work laptop with me just in case. The last shutdown 35 days long was great but I stayed home. Only live once…

Also, sorry for contractors, but they make 30% more than Fed so they can kiss my a

You sound like a number of my friends who are federal workers. They are literally giddy with excitement for a shutdown. Keep telling everyone "we get a paid vacation!" I don't say a word but I am seeing them in a different light.

I have only come across this here. Most people are nervous for the country and their own productivity.

One reason I enjoy my job is the work life balance. If I want time off, I have PTO. I plan for it and enjoy it. This is just a giant mess for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trying to find a last minute cruise that would begin Oct 2-8. Will take my work laptop with me just in case. The last shutdown 35 days long was great but I stayed home. Only live once…

Also, sorry for contractors, but they make 30% more than Fed so they can kiss my a

You sound like a number of my friends who are federal workers. They are literally giddy with excitement for a shutdown. Keep telling everyone "we get a paid vacation!" I don't say a word but I am seeing them in a different light.

I have only come across this here. Most people are nervous for the country and their own productivity.

One reason I enjoy my job is the work life balance. If I want time off, I have PTO. I plan for it and enjoy it. This is just a giant mess for everyone.

Yes, this. I’m a non excepted federal worker whose work will pile up during a shutdown. My husband is an excepted fed. It’s not awesome to face a month of no paychecks and I’m going to be absolutely buried when I get back to the office and the lead up to the holidays is going to suck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trying to find a last minute cruise that would begin Oct 2-8. Will take my work laptop with me just in case. The last shutdown 35 days long was great but I stayed home. Only live once…

Also, sorry for contractors, but they make 30% more than Fed so they can kiss my a

You sound like a number of my friends who are federal workers. They are literally giddy with excitement for a shutdown. Keep telling everyone "we get a paid vacation!" I don't say a word but I am seeing them in a different light.

Obvious troll is obvious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trying to find a last minute cruise that would begin Oct 2-8. Will take my work laptop with me just in case. The last shutdown 35 days long was great but I stayed home. Only live once…

Also, sorry for contractors, but they make 30% more than Fed so they can kiss my a

You sound like a number of my friends who are federal workers. They are literally giddy with excitement for a shutdown. Keep telling everyone "we get a paid vacation!" I don't say a word but I am seeing them in a different light.

I have only come across this here. Most people are nervous for the country and their own productivity.

One reason I enjoy my job is the work life balance. If I want time off, I have PTO. I plan for it and enjoy it. This is just a giant mess for everyone.

Yes, this. I’m a non excepted federal worker whose work will pile up during a shutdown. My husband is an excepted fed. It’s not awesome to face a month of no paychecks and I’m going to be absolutely buried when I get back to the office and the lead up to the holidays is going to suck.

Oh man you're so right about the return. I had requested a few days of leave in October for parent teacher conference half days, teacher workdays, and such when there's no school, I won't be in a great position if that gets canceled at the last minute because I have to catch up. The worst would be if we're shut down long enough for my leave to get canceled for workload reasons, but NOT long enough for my week of TDY in late October to get canceled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trying to find a last minute cruise that would begin Oct 2-8. Will take my work laptop with me just in case. The last shutdown 35 days long was great but I stayed home. Only live once…

Also, sorry for contractors, but they make 30% more than Fed so they can kiss my a

You sound like a number of my friends who are federal workers. They are literally giddy with excitement for a shutdown. Keep telling everyone "we get a paid vacation!" I don't say a word but I am seeing them in a different light.

I have only come across this here. Most people are nervous for the country and their own productivity.

One reason I enjoy my job is the work life balance. If I want time off, I have PTO. I plan for it and enjoy it. This is just a giant mess for everyone.

Yes, this. I’m a non excepted federal worker whose work will pile up during a shutdown. My husband is an excepted fed. It’s not awesome to face a month of no paychecks and I’m going to be absolutely buried when I get back to the office and the lead up to the holidays is going to suck.

Yeah I’m dreading a shutdown too. It actually won’t be as big if a deal for me most likely, provided it doesn’t go on too long, as I’m at an agency that doesn’t receive all its funding through appropriations so generally things carry on as normal-ish while everyone else is shutdown. Or so I’ve heard, I wasn’t there for the last one. Except of course when we can’t contact anyone at the other agencies.

It’s going to be a PITA for DH, he may end up being excepted but was supposed to have a bunch of training and travel in Oct/Nov which means everything would get pushed back to the holiday time or later, which is going to cause a bunch of conflicts both professionally and for our family. Ugh. It’s all so stupid.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I have plane tickets for a weekend trip (planned 8 months ago) over Columbus/Indigenous Peoples weekend. Since I never traveled during past shutdowns, what is the likelihood of ATC and TSA working? (Not that any of us have crystal ball.)

They will force TSA to work unpaid.

That is so sh*tty. So blue collar workers at the TSA will be forced to come in without pay so that the fat-cat Congressmen who caused this shutdown will still be able to jet home?

As well as, of course, every other person who has a flight scheduled during the shutdown. Or would you prefer that all air travel in the country grind to a halt during the shutdown?

Umm yes. That's the point. It's a shutdown of government services because they can't reach any agreement on funding said services.

That should be the outcome when a shutdown is triggered.

So, also the military should stop working? National defense is on hold for the time being - we just hope no one notices? How about the Secret Service? People involved in monitoring nuclear power? Anyone can now wander onto military bases and take whatever they please? I could go on . . .

It's an absurd position, and I think you know that.

It's not absurd, because Joe Average in middle America who thinks the govt has too much money doesn't see the affects of a shutdown. He still gets his SS check, he can call the IRS, his plane still flies.

Average Americas need to see what their Representatives are causing, and they won't see that until it's hard for them.

What about the military? Intelligence agencies? FBI? Homeland Security? ICE? BCP? Embassies and Consulates? How much risk do you want to put the US in? Because if any of these agencies/services are shutdown, then the "pain" may be an invasion, rise in crime that could include loss of life, endangering US citizens abroad, compromise of US national security and more. Do you have any line at all of what is essential? Does your political philosophy in this situation mean that you consider loss of human life is acceptable just to drive the point home? Are you willing to have a foreign terrorist group enter the US and attack the US with no LEO or military to stop them or capture them? Are you willing to sacrifice US citizens in foreign countries to terrorist or military action and offer them no protection? Are you willing to let illegal aliens (or undocumented migrants) enter the nation at an even higher rate than currently are entering because we've eliminated all forms of border monitoring? Are you willing to have a crime spree because the FBI is not working?

If I were a member of Congress I would never put any of those things at risk, I would work with people I hate on the other side to get appropriations bills enacted and ensure the continuity of our federal government because all of those things are important. But I’m not a member of Congress, I’m a lowly federal employee who performs one of the functions you mention above and because of political dysfunction I will have to continue to do my job with delayed pay of weeks or months due to no fault of my own. The people who caused this problem and those who elected them into their jobs will face no consequences. I think that’s wrong and I think they should get exactly what they paid for. I hope a shutdown would become a very rare very short event but we have decided to make these much longer by making them painless to everyone except the federal workforce and I think that has been a very bad decision.

In other words, we have acted to minimize the disruption caused by federal government shutdowns, and confine its worst effects to a relatively small group of people. You are opposed to that, because you are in that group of people. You'd rather everyone suffer in the (vain, in my view) hope that if everyone suffers, they won't happen anymore.

I guess that's where we differ - I don't think it will work, and your path will only increase suffering. You still won't get paid on time (though you won't have to work, I guess), other individuals will suffer, and there may be systemic consequences. Seems like an easy decision to me. Of course, I'm not in the affected group.

No, PPs path is that we don’t do this in the first place. We simply do not have government shutdowns.

But if they do happen, how do you know your version of a shutdown impacts less people? How do you know it minimizes suffering?

Because I'm not an idiot. Every other person on here is arguing that we need to make the consequences of a shutdown much more harsh - and your question is that how do you *know* that completely shutting down everything will be worse? Good grief.

Logic tells you that a real shut down will be very quick. Days at most. The GOP will make an end run around the far right just like they did on the spending ceiling.

A shut down like we have repeatedly over the years could last months.

So yes, it is possible the second option would cause shut down will cause more suffering.

And again, it all comes back to this - your (and others') belief that a "real shut down" either won't happen, or will be short, because the consequences will be so pronounced. I don't believe that, and simply am not willing to take that chance. For starters, because using "logic tells me" as a justification for anything when it concerns the House GOP is just short of lunacy.

1. You don’t get to decide what chances are taken

2. Your way has failed. Repeatedly. If it doesn’t work, then it won’t happen again. But after two prolonged shutdown in the last 10 years and multiple near misses or short ones, your way clearly does not work. We have now entered the “definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result zone.” It’s time for a new plan. If you don’t like the new plan, propose and alternative— besides let’s just do what has repeatedly failed in the past.

1. Of course not. No one posting here does, unless there's the stray member of Congress wasting time on DCUM. What a stupid comment.

2. If depends on what you mean by failed. I don't think any shutdown has caused massive, catastrophic damage to the country. Unlike many posting here, my goal isn't to minimize the disruption to the federal workforce. It's what I believe to be the best for the country as a whole.

You are repeating yourself and you are wrong.

Of course I'm repeating myself - everyone is coming at me with the same thing. "But if you make a shutdown hurt everyone enough, the politicians won't let it happen." Are you trying for the record for most consecutive inane comments?

It may be time to consider that relevant facts that are not apparent to you may be apparent to "everyone" telling you--correctly--that you are wrong.

That's certainly possible. Or, you might consider that the posters with whom I've had a discussion all are federal employees, who have a vested interest in minimizing their own dislocation. They (you) may be minimizing the adverse effects of a total shutdown, or overestimating the GOP's willingness to act rationally, because they'll latch onto any possibility that has the slightest chance of improving their lot in life.

In short, interested parties often don't see things clearly because of their bias.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a fed and if there is a shutdown I’m literally screwed. I have a huge project due and this will screw me to no end. I don’t who these people are rooting for a shut down. My entire team has a timeline and we keep staring at it thinking, well, what happens now?

oh please. I guess you'll just have to adjust your timeframes. I think everyone will understand.

INP: I work on an annual project. The year will not get longer. If this year is late we are shorting next year. We will put in extra unpaid hours and cut some corners too.

Same here. After the Trump shutdown when we returned following 35 days of work piling up, our supervisor told us we were required to be fully caught up within one month. We were told to put in extra hours or cut corners as needed to be back on track. Since we don’t like to do a bad job (and in some cases can’t cut corners, like on procurements), we ended up working longer hours and weekends. And we don’t get overtime or comp time. The only thing that made this acceptable was the knowledge that we got the back pay. If we hadn’t there’d have been mutiny.

[Anonymous]

If the SD does happen- any ideas for how long? Someone floated Jan 1 here. That would be terrible

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I have plane tickets for a weekend trip (planned 8 months ago) over Columbus/Indigenous Peoples weekend. Since I never traveled during past shutdowns, what is the likelihood of ATC and TSA working? (Not that any of us have crystal ball.)

They will force TSA to work unpaid.

That is so sh*tty. So blue collar workers at the TSA will be forced to come in without pay so that the fat-cat Congressmen who caused this shutdown will still be able to jet home?

As well as, of course, every other person who has a flight scheduled during the shutdown. Or would you prefer that all air travel in the country grind to a halt during the shutdown?

Umm yes. That's the point. It's a shutdown of government services because they can't reach any agreement on funding said services.

That should be the outcome when a shutdown is triggered.

So, also the military should stop working? National defense is on hold for the time being - we just hope no one notices? How about the Secret Service? People involved in monitoring nuclear power? Anyone can now wander onto military bases and take whatever they please? I could go on . . .

It's an absurd position, and I think you know that.

It's not absurd, because Joe Average in middle America who thinks the govt has too much money doesn't see the affects of a shutdown. He still gets his SS check, he can call the IRS, his plane still flies.

Average Americas need to see what their Representatives are causing, and they won't see that until it's hard for them.

What about the military? Intelligence agencies? FBI? Homeland Security? ICE? BCP? Embassies and Consulates? How much risk do you want to put the US in? Because if any of these agencies/services are shutdown, then the "pain" may be an invasion, rise in crime that could include loss of life, endangering US citizens abroad, compromise of US national security and more. Do you have any line at all of what is essential? Does your political philosophy in this situation mean that you consider loss of human life is acceptable just to drive the point home? Are you willing to have a foreign terrorist group enter the US and attack the US with no LEO or military to stop them or capture them? Are you willing to sacrifice US citizens in foreign countries to terrorist or military action and offer them no protection? Are you willing to let illegal aliens (or undocumented migrants) enter the nation at an even higher rate than currently are entering because we've eliminated all forms of border monitoring? Are you willing to have a crime spree because the FBI is not working?

If I were a member of Congress I would never put any of those things at risk, I would work with people I hate on the other side to get appropriations bills enacted and ensure the continuity of our federal government because all of those things are important. But I’m not a member of Congress, I’m a lowly federal employee who performs one of the functions you mention above and because of political dysfunction I will have to continue to do my job with delayed pay of weeks or months due to no fault of my own. The people who caused this problem and those who elected them into their jobs will face no consequences. I think that’s wrong and I think they should get exactly what they paid for. I hope a shutdown would become a very rare very short event but we have decided to make these much longer by making them painless to everyone except the federal workforce and I think that has been a very bad decision.

In other words, we have acted to minimize the disruption caused by federal government shutdowns, and confine its worst effects to a relatively small group of people. You are opposed to that, because you are in that group of people. You'd rather everyone suffer in the (vain, in my view) hope that if everyone suffers, they won't happen anymore.

I guess that's where we differ - I don't think it will work, and your path will only increase suffering. You still won't get paid on time (though you won't have to work, I guess), other individuals will suffer, and there may be systemic consequences. Seems like an easy decision to me. Of course, I'm not in the affected group.

No, PPs path is that we don’t do this in the first place. We simply do not have government shutdowns.

But if they do happen, how do you know your version of a shutdown impacts less people? How do you know it minimizes suffering?

Because I'm not an idiot. Every other person on here is arguing that we need to make the consequences of a shutdown much more harsh - and your question is that how do you *know* that completely shutting down everything will be worse? Good grief.

Logic tells you that a real shut down will be very quick. Days at most. The GOP will make an end run around the far right just like they did on the spending ceiling.

A shut down like we have repeatedly over the years could last months.

So yes, it is possible the second option would cause shut down will cause more suffering.

And again, it all comes back to this - your (and others') belief that a "real shut down" either won't happen, or will be short, because the consequences will be so pronounced. I don't believe that, and simply am not willing to take that chance. For starters, because using "logic tells me" as a justification for anything when it concerns the House GOP is just short of lunacy.

1. You don’t get to decide what chances are taken

2. Your way has failed. Repeatedly. If it doesn’t work, then it won’t happen again. But after two prolonged shutdown in the last 10 years and multiple near misses or short ones, your way clearly does not work. We have now entered the “definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result zone.” It’s time for a new plan. If you don’t like the new plan, propose and alternative— besides let’s just do what has repeatedly failed in the past.

1. Of course not. No one posting here does, unless there's the stray member of Congress wasting time on DCUM. What a stupid comment.

2. If depends on what you mean by failed. I don't think any shutdown has caused massive, catastrophic damage to the country. Unlike many posting here, my goal isn't to minimize the disruption to the federal workforce. It's what I believe to be the best for the country as a whole.

You are repeating yourself and you are wrong.

Of course I'm repeating myself - everyone is coming at me with the same thing. "But if you make a shutdown hurt everyone enough, the politicians won't let it happen." Are you trying for the record for most consecutive inane comments?

It may be time to consider that relevant facts that are not apparent to you may be apparent to "everyone" telling you--correctly--that you are wrong.

That's certainly possible. Or, you might consider that the posters with whom I've had a discussion all are federal employees, who have a vested interest in minimizing their own dislocation. They (you) may be minimizing the adverse effects of a total shutdown, or overestimating the GOP's willingness to act rationally, because they'll latch onto any possibility that has the slightest chance of improving their lot in life.

In short, interested parties often don't see things clearly because of their bias.

For someone claiming disinterest, you seem awfully interested yourself.

I wonder why.

[Anonymous]

Likely a long SD. One month minimum to get sides to the table.

[Anonymous]

So it looks like the shutdown will happen in the middle of a pay period. So do agencies process pay for the 1 week?