Anyone affected by the Federal Government shut down?

[AMW86]

I work for HHS and have been told to log in and sign my furlough notice and put up an away message on email if the government is still shutdown tomorrow. We are supposed to get paid on Thursday but I will be ok with savings if it is doesn't go on too long. Hopefully they get a deal tonight.
I saw an article that USAA will be giving interest free loans to military employees affected by the shutdown. They can't give it to other government employees because no guarantee we will get paid, but hopefully it helps some. I would think a fair amount of military have USAA.
http://money.cnn.com/2018/01/20/news/usaa-shutdown/index.html

 

[Happyinwonerland]

In Atlanta, the CDC will be working with only 35% of its workforce, at the height of a very deadly flu season. It can impact everyone.

 

[NinaBella]

Just curious why you have the strong feeling on never wanting to owe the IRS? I don't care either way, I'm just sensing a real strong feeling about it. Am I missing something about it being a bad thing?

Your sensing something that is not there.

 

[NinaBella]

In Atlanta, the CDC will be working with only 35% of its workforce, at the height of a very deadly flu season. It can impact everyone.

Yes, even if it is not impacting someone's "spending" like some have said here, it goes much broader than my personal bank account and spending habits.

 

[Christine]

Your sensing something that is not there.

I'm not really sensing anything in particular. You made the same statement in two posts "We never want to owe the IRS." Just wondering what the rationale is. For instance, I've said "I never want to give the IRS more of my money than necessary." Why? Because I could be earning interest on it if I sock away my "refund" in a CD or mutual fund. Parking it with the IRS is letting someone else have your money over the year. It's really no big deal either and, ultimately, breaking even or getting a little back or paying a little more is ideal. It's your never-want-to-owe-them statement that has me intrigued. Please don't get offended. I'm not trying to be snappy with you. I'm just generally curious of your reasoning, that's all. And hey, it's really none of business I guess.

 

[gotomu212]

You are mistaken. First of all, military troops routinely work on weekends. All those men and women deployed work 24/7 their whole deployment. There are no "days off." My husband's last deployment was 10 months. In that 10 months, he got exactly one 24 hour period "off" because he had a 103 fever and was quarantined to his bed. He worked ever single day otherwise. There are currently thousands of deployed troops working right now, in addition to the thousands more stateside who are required to work on weekends.

Second, the military has not been funded past Jan 19. They are currently working without pay, although they will eventually be paid for these days. BUT, the next paycheck due to come Feb 1 was supposed to cover Jan 16-31. There will be NO paycheck coming on the 1st of February for any military active duty. They cannot be paid without funding, and the contractor that processes the military payroll will not be doing any work until a budget is passed or a bill to find the military without disruption to pay is passed. They have technically been paid for 4 work days out of the 15 day work cycle. However, as I mentioned, there is no one to process that payroll, so there won't be a check coming on the 1st for even those 4 days.

FWIW, my information comes from the official government notice sent out to my husband's work email address (he is responsible for passing this information along to his Marines) from the Department of Defense and signed by General Mattis (Secretary of Defense). It was dated yesterday, Jan 20.

Yeah but the PPs point was that there hasn’t been a lapse in pay yet and there won’t be until the 1st. Everyone, gov, mil, private sector, works for paymnet in arrears. I’m working tomorrow but won’t be paid for that time for another 3 weeks so I guess technically I’m working without pay too in your example.

IF this drags on for another 10 days or IF Congress doesn’t fund military pay during a prolonged shutdown (which would be beyond shocking at this point) then service members could miss a paycheck, but at this point members have no less money than they would have if the gov hadn’t shut down.

 

[kdonnel]

In Atlanta, the CDC will be working with only 35% of its workforce, at the height of a very deadly flu season. It can impact everyone.

The Atlanta CDC has a history of being extremely poorly managed and having dangerous lapses in protocol and security. As an Atlanta resident I am probably safer with them not working.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

OK, I stand corrected. Some U.S. citizens apparently are living in a bubble, completely sheltered from any influence of the federal government whatsoever. Ever.

For the rest of us mere mortals, it has a very real chance of effecting us or someone close to us. In all likelihood, this will be a short and uneventful shutdown. But if it were to go on more than a few weeks, most plebians would be affected.

 

[mickman1962]

In Atlanta, the CDC will be working with only 35% of its workforce, at the height of a very deadly flu season. It can impact everyone.

Exactly what does the CDC do to combat the flu once it's here?

 

[Happyinwonerland]

Exactly what does the CDC do to combat the flu once it's here?

I can't answer that, as I don't work at the CDC. I was posting that more to show the poster from Atlanta who thinks their city's economy couldn't possibly feel a bit of a sting from a government shutdown. There government employees everywhere and when they stop getting paid, if it lasts longer than a few weeks, it could hurt badly.

 

[kdonnel]

OK, I stand corrected. Some U.S. citizens apparently are living in a bubble, completely sheltered from any influence of the federal government whatsoever. Ever.

For the rest of us mere mortals, it has a very real chance of effecting us or someone close to us. In all likelihood, this will be a short and uneventful shutdown. But if it were to go on more than a few weeks, most plebians would be affected.

?

Who said they are not influenced by the federal government whatsoever?

You are correct that it will take many weeks before most plebeians even notice.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Yes - one of my sisters family is. It will be hard. I hope it won't last long.

 

[Poohforyou]

I know military is and I feel so angry about that

Actually no, the military hasn't been impacted yet. They won't be paid again until February 1st. Somehow I imagine a resolution will be passed to continue paying them.

 

[MolonLabe]

Exactly what does the CDC do to combat the flu once it's here?

The same thing everyone else does, wash their hands frequently, lol. Seriously though, there is nothing for them to do that can have any impact on the current flu season. Luckily this is a fairly mild strain (the main one hitting) and the fact that they produced a vaccine for the wrong strains (again) isn't as big of an issue as some other years.

I do think these shutdowns illustrate just how bloated some of these agencies and departments are. Over 800,000 federal employees won't work tomorrow because they aren't "essential". Exactly why are there so many non essential people that we the taxpayers are paying for? I think it's time to stop filling these positions when people retire/quit.

And a previous poster was correct, there has never been a shutdown where the employees weren't paid once a budget was finally passed. Median income for a federal employee is about $80,000, if you know 80k a year and can't survive for a few days because a single paycheck is a week or two late, you've got a lot deeper problems than a single paycheck.

I do find it mildly entertaining that government workers are scared about the "uncertainty" when the rest of the country working in the private sector lives with that day in and day out. #welcometotherealworld

 

[Farro]

Exactly what does the CDC do to combat the flu once it's here?

Really? They continue to detect/report outbreaks where they are happening, work to contain if possible, monitor if a strain is changing, if a new strain is emerging, work on future vaccines based on these new strains...and they do a lot more than monitor influenza.

 

[Araminta18]

I'm a fed and my husband is a contractor for the fed. Luckily I just got paid, and my husband's contract is "pre-paid", and supports mostly exempted employees, so he'll still be going into work and getting paid, and I've got until the 1st til we get paid again, so we won't feel it in our wallets until the 1st. But the anxiety/mental stress is enormous--good grief, just pass a freaking budget. If my husband wasn't one of the contractors who can still work (ie, if he were like the majority of contractors), he'd just be going without pay. And we just bought a house--losing a paycheck would be very difficult (though yes, we have savings and would be ok).

 

[brooke789]

Our only direct impact, so far....we were trying to book a a camping reservation but recreation.gov is down b/c of the shutdown. Can't even check the availability due to the shut down.

Clearly, there are larger issues, but this is where it has hit us.

 

[AMW86]

I work for HHS and have been told to log in and sign my furlough notice and put up an away message on email if the government is still shutdown tomorrow. We are supposed to get paid on Thursday but I will be ok with savings if it is doesn't go on too long. Hopefully they get a deal tonight.
I saw an article that USAA will be giving interest free loans to military employees affected by the shutdown. They can't give it to other government employees because no guarantee we will get paid, but hopefully it helps some. I would think a fair amount of military have USAA.
http://money.cnn.com/2018/01/20/news/usaa-shutdown/index.html

Whelp! I just got an email stating that I am working despite the shutdown

 

[Christine]

I do think these shutdowns illustrate just how bloated some of these agencies and departments are. Over 800,000 federal employees won't work tomorrow because they aren't "essential". Exactly why are there so many non essential people that we the taxpayers are paying for? I think it's time to stop filling these positions when people retire/quit.

And a previous poster was correct, there has never been a shutdown where the employees weren't paid once a budget was finally passed. Median income for a federal employee is about $80,000, if you know 80k a year and can't survive for a few days because a single paycheck is a week or two late, you've got a lot deeper problems than a single paycheck.

I do find it mildly entertaining that government workers are scared about the "uncertainty" when the rest of the country working in the private sector lives with that day in and day out. #welcometotherealworld

In my organization of 100 people, only two people are named "essential" to work. As essential employees, they are actually prohibited from doing work that is deemed non-critical. So while they will be in the office tomorrow working, they can only work on things that assist in keeping the "bones" of government working. Since it is DoD that I work for they will only be able to perform actions that will maintain safety and support for the military. All other actions such as continuing to build new weapons, routine maintenance, etc are stopped. They are just there to push the buttons to ensure the bare minimum of safety and defense.

I imagine this is the same in all agencies. If you don't really understand the real meanings between essential and non-essential then you have zero clue of what your government does AT ALL. I guess then, you naively believe, that my organization can run with two people. Honestly.

I also have to ask: where do you live? Try living in NYC, Los Angeles, Washington DC, or any other like cities on $80,000 and then have it stopped. Indiana? Yep, I agree with you.

 

[Christine]

I'm a fed and my husband is a contractor for the fed. Luckily I just got paid, and my husband's contract is "pre-paid", and supports mostly exempted employees, so he'll still be going into work and getting paid, and I've got until the 1st til we get paid again, so we won't feel it in our wallets until the 1st. But the anxiety/mental stress is enormous--good grief, just pass a freaking budget. If my husband wasn't one of the contractors who can still work (ie, if he were like the majority of contractors), he'd just be going without pay. And we just bought a house--losing a paycheck would be very difficult (though yes, we have savings and would be ok).

Our contractors all get to work so long as they have been funded (and most are forward funded at all times). They just can't work in our building.