‘I’m scrambling’: Government shutdown spurs confusion and concern with no funding deal in sight

CNN A self-described national park fanatic Lucas Wall was excited to start a weeklong trip to visit seven National Park Utility sites in Virginia on Thursday The Washington DC resident prepaid for a rental car to drive to Appomattox Court House National Historical Park Richmond National Battlefield Park and Prince William Forest Park among others But the authorities shutdown has thrown those plans into disarray Wall a retired writer is now checking the parks websites and reading through the agency s shutdown contingency plan to see what might still make sense to visit though he says they aren t very helpful He s hoping he can go to parks that are mostly outdoors though it won t be the same if he can t enter the visitor centers talk to the rangers watch films or videos about the site and pick up brochures and maps I m scrambling to figure out how to modify my plans stated Wall who is considering adding certain state parks to his itinerary though they don t have as much history I haven t booked any hotels yet because of this confusion and uncertainty because of this threat of a shutdown Wall is far from alone in having to contend with the widespread uncertainty sparked by the first federal regime shutdown in more than six years Hundreds of people have written to CNN in latest days about the shutdown with multiple voicing worries over interruptions to their crucial federal benefits or grant funding the shuttering of federal sites promising delays in air journey or problems doing business with the federal leadership Lawmakers however remain far from reaching an agreement to fund the cabinet for fiscal year which began October and end the impasse Instead Republicans and Democrats entrenched in their positions are playing the blame event over who s at fault and have shown little momentum toward reaching a bipartisan deal to end the shutdown before it results in nationwide closures and layoffs Nothing will be resolved before Friday when the Senate returns to town after a break to allow members to observe the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur But neither party appears prepared to back off their positions meaning the shutdown may not end anytime soon Looking to ramp up pressure on Democrats the White House s budget chief is repeating his warnings that the shutdown will allow the administration to initiate mass layoffs in the federal workforce in coming days Russ Vought the director of the Office of Management and Budget described Republicans senators on a Wednesday conference call that the layoffs would target agencies that don t fit into the Trump administration s priorities according to multiple people on the call Plus he is canceling billions of dollars in infrastructure and vitality projects across blue states a day after President Donald Trump warned that his administration can do things that are irreversible during the impasse A frightened federal workforce The shutdown s burden falls particularly heavily on federal workers hundreds of thousands of whom are being furloughed without pay until Congress acts Others are deemed essential and have to continue working though a great number of of them also won t collect paychecks until the impasse ends But less than -hours into the funding lapse this shutdown has already proven particularly stressful for a multitude of federal workers who received notices of their employment status and shutdown plans later than usual and are spooked by the prospect of mass layoffs What has made this one different from the rest is that we ve not been threatened with being RIF ed during an emergency shutdown before noted Yolanda Jacobs president of the American Federation of Executive Employees Local which represents staffers at the Centers for Infection Control and Prevention referring to Vought s reduction-in-force threats Now that they ve shut down how long before they can fire me Those are selected of the questions that we re receiving One Transportation Protection Administration worker going through his first shutdown as a federal employee recounted CNN that he did not get official notice from his agency about the shutdown until Tuesday night though his airport manager earlier narrated the company they would have to analysis for work but not get paid Vought s signaling of looming mass layoffs has left everyone on edge revealed the worker who was granted anonymity to discuss his experience without fear of retribution It comes after multiple moves by the Trump administration to overhaul and shrink the federal workforce including the Department of Homeland Shield s March announcement now tied up in court that it was rescinding the collective bargaining agreement covering tens of thousands of transportation measure officers You can see in their eyes and faces that it s a scary time to work not a scary place but a scary time the worker who is also a veteran mentioned of his colleagues AFGE and other federal workers unions have filed a lawsuit against the administration to block it from laying off employees during the shutdown Broader impacts The ramifications of Capitol Hill s deadlock are steadily rippling across a broad swath of American lives Democratic Arizona Gov Katie Hobbs declared that the state cannot afford to keep its national parks open during this shutdown while New York will not pick up the tab to keep the Statue of Liberty open The Interior Department then informed CNN that the administration would keep the statue as well as Ellis Island open The Washington DC court system mentioned it will not issue marriage certificates or perform wedding ceremonies And the National Flood Insurance Project can t issue new policies potentially snagging the closing of home sales For Roeland van der Hoorn the impasse may mean two years of planning and saving to visit the Smithsonian s Archives of American Art down the drain Van der Hoorn a librarian who lives outside of Amsterdam in the Netherlands booked a non-refundable flight to Washington DC to do research on Francis de Erdely a Hungarian-American artist whose papers are at the museum It never occurred to him that his project and first trip to the US could be derailed by a regime shutdown If the Smithsonian remains closed when he is in town he will have to save for another sparse years before he can return But this time van der Hoorn mentioned he ll get a refundable ticket I don t trust the US governing body enough that basic establishment programs are functioning like museums he revealed Democrats not deterred by White House firing threats So far in Washington Democratic leaders are standing firm They are demanding that any funding package include an extension of the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies which are set to expire at year s end and cause premiums to more than double on average for according to KFF a nonpartisan research group Republican leaders meanwhile say negotiation is a non-starter as long as the establishment remains closed And Vice President JD Vance and others in the party are doubling down on their false contends that the Democrats true goal in the funding battle is to provide fitness care to undocumented immigrants In the days leading up to the administration shutdown Republicans suggested the threat of the Trump administration unilaterally cutting federal programs and firing federal employees would help deter Democrats from holding their position Vought and others in the Trump administration have previously warned that they would use their powers during a shutdown to further shrink the size of the federal cabinet to reflect the White House s agenda If I was a Democrat that would concern me GOP Sen John Cornyn of Texas stated of Vought s unilateral moves Get Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to get the votes to get executive up and running Then Vought wouldn t have any excuse to do what he is doing GOP Sen Chuck Grassley of Iowa echoed But Democrats for now don t seem to be blinking I think they miscalculated Democratic Sen Mark Kelly of Arizona mentioned of his Republican colleagues The Trump administration a number of Democrats have argued would have continued to slash the federal leadership regardless of a funding agreement The status of leadership opened or closed is not relevant to Russell Vought He just goes on his rampage every day Vermont Sen Peter Welch remarked For now with little movement toward a political off ramp the growing threats from the administration intended to shake Democrats appear to have instead left particular Republicans with concerns It makes everything going forward more complex for us Republican Sen Kevin Cramer of North Dakota disclosed