In United States legislature, a government shutdown results when congress does not pass the sufficient appropriation bills or continuing resolutions required to fund federal gov’t operations and agencies, or when the President fails to sign such bills or resolutions into law. The current precedent for the interpretation of the Antideficiency Act, in such cases, requires the federal gov’t to begin a “shutdown” of the affected parties and activities involving the furlough of non-essential personnel and the cut back of agency activities and services. Essential employees are required to continue work without pay until the gov’t reopens, when they may or may not receive back pay.

THERE HAVE BEEN MANY reported shutdown stories in the intervening shutdown period. In fact, #ShutdownStory has become a trendy handle on Twitter. Scientists and other employers often depend on government grants, expertise and sometimes regulatory approval to carry on their work. Amidst the shutdown, some are finding it impossible to proceed. Through the Twitter handle #ShutdownStory, I present a demographic case study of how the gov’t shudown is affecting the everyday American.

Nat’l Parks are not maintained & trash piles up on federal lands

The #ShutdownStory serves as a contemporary historiography of the plight of nat’l parks. The story of the critically understaffed Park Service includes vandalism at Joshua Tree Nat’l Park, which has had some of its culturally important and endangered trees cut down, as well as vandalized. In Washington D.C., trash is piling up on federal lands, and in Rocky Mountain Nat’l Park, human waste has been building up as well.

In my own experience on a leisure trip to Big Cypress Nat’l Park, a branch of the Everglades Nat’l Park Service, there was only 1 functional bathroom in the entire 1,126 mi² preserve. Needless to say, the National Park Service is asking for volunteers.

Science slows to a standstill

University of Montana fire researchers had to cancel an important fire ecology workshop, due to the inability of federal participants to attend. The Boulder-area science community has also grown weary of the furlough. Princeton physicist Andrew Leifer reports (he has not yet heard back on his grant).

“I’ve been trying hard to land my first federal grant, which is crucial for funding my research into how the neurons in a worm’s brain generate its behavior.”

A marine biologist at California State University writes,

“Even though I am continuing to work, many of my collaborators (USGS, NOAA) are furloughed and projects we are working on together cannot move forward.”

A climate scientist at Brown University reports that his NOAA-funded monies have trickled to a halt due to NOAA being shut down.

A microbiology graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley writes,

“My PI [principal investigator] works for the USDA (like several PIs in my department). While the grad students continue to work, it is difficult for us without our advisers here.”

Airport safety is endangered

TSA agents are working without pay, and they are already among the lowest paid federal workers.

Native American communities suffer

Over half of the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ 4,057 employees are furloughed.

Hard-working gov’t employees suffer

Alice Diamond, an attourney for the IRS, requires pre-approval for work contracts, and cannot move forward. She has been told by her superiors that she can’t speak to the media about it. I am applying to a job with FEMA as a contractor, and have been informed that the shutdown has halted this hiring process.

“I can’t ‘get another job’ during the shutdown — my agency requires pre-approval to do other work. Trying to stay upbeat and hang on.”

Sunny Blaylock creates e-learning and apps for gov’t diplomats. She has been entirely laid off with no back pay by her federal contracting company.

“Just got a notice that I am now laid off by my small government contracting company, no back pay.”

Coast Guard employees take a hit

The Coast Guard falls under Homeland Security. The ~42,000 active members of the Coast Guard have not yet been furloughed, as they are considered essential, but it is not clear whether they will get a paycheck come Jan. 15.

SamFredCharlie is a furloughed Coast Guard employee. In the interim, the Coast Guard Support Program, an employee-assistance arm, suggest as part of a 5-page tip sheet (which has since been removed) that employees should consider “holding a garage sale, babysitting, dog-walking or serving as a mystery shopper,” as part of a tip-sheet.

There are a wearisome number of precedents of government shutdown, each with its own cause and eventual solution. The current one is due to disagreements over border wall funding. Meanwhile, America watches, and the everyday American suffers.