Shutdown stories: Federal employees share anxiety via Twitter – By Carolyn Cerbin (usatoday.com) / Dec 25 2018
As the partial government shutdown heads toward day 5, federal employees and others have taken to Twitter to share their experiences via #ShutdownStories.
About 800,000 employees are affected by the partial shutdown, which began at midnight Friday and covers about 25 percent of government agencies.
On Christmas morning, President Donald Trump said the nation needs “a wall, a fence, whatever they want to call it,” but Democrats say they will not support his calls for $5 billion for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
As the standoff continued Tuesday, tweets from parents described anxiety about not being able to pay their bills, like this one from a single mother:
https://twitter.com/mj4ever/status/1077593104356704256
And another Twitter user who worried about paying for her husband’s caregiver:
https://twitter.com/AltCivilServant/status/1077603378153148416
Others said they were concerned about getting needed health care:
https://twitter.com/MsPopRouge/status/1077606861724110854
For one granddaughter, the government closure meant her relatives did not have their source of livelihood:
https://twitter.com/chrisoulajames/status/1077227446653673473
And those with loved ones serving in the military or as law enforcement tweeted about doing dangerous work for no or deferred pay:
My husband is federal law enforcement. He had the weekend off but now has to head back to work on Christmas morning with no indication of when/if he will be paid for providing crucial border security. We blame you @realDonaldTrump #ShutdownStories #TrumpShutDown
— Maria Ortega (@shamapoo) December 25, 2018
My husband is active duty Coast Guard. Everyone thinks the military is getting paid during the shutdown, but the Coast Guard is facing no pay on the 1st due to being DHS and not DoD. We live in NYC, pay over $2K/month in rent, have a toddler and one on the way.#ShutdownStories
— Katy⚓ (@katyjb88) December 24, 2018
One user expressed gratitude his car payment had been deferred but indicated he might be evicted if the shutdown drags on:
https://twitter.com/SciFiCowboy_v2/status/1077601577026777089
And finally, one traveler thanked those continuing to serve the public despite the uncertainty:
https://twitter.com/DrJCoftheDC/status/1077588832864747520
https://www.yahoo.com/news/shutdown-stories-federal-employees-share-185535123.html
