Most federal workers will not learn until today or tomorrow whether they are considered essential in the event of a shutdown. And even those required to work remain unclear on whether they will be paid.
Information trickled in yesterday from such agencies as the Interior Department on how extensive the shutdown would be and who would be out of work.
A vast majority of the department’s operations would cease, including US Geological Survey field work and oversight of the nation’s onshore oil and gas rigs. About three out of every four of the department’s 68,000 workers should expect to be stay home next week, a memo from Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said.
At the Department of Labor, just 1,650 employees out 16,099 workers would stay on the job, according to a contingency plan. In all, the Obama administration said 800,000 workers face furloughs.
Members of the Massachusetts delegation fielded dozens of calls and messages yesterday from worried constituents over whether a shutdown would immediately halt such benefits as Social Security checks or Medicare payments. It will not.
Representative Edward J. Markey, the Malden Democrat, said his constituents are showing concern, but not panic.
“We’re certainly not at DEFCON 1,’’ he said, referring to the military readiness code for an imminent war. “We’re down at DEFCON 4 or 5.’’
State and city officials fear an extended shutdown will not only threaten such services as job training, homeless shelters, and Head Start programs for preschoolers, but will force them to come up with their own patchwork solutions.
Senator John F. Kerry held a conference call with about 20 Massachusetts mayors and municipal leaders to parse out what a shutdown would mean for them. Mayor James M. Ruberto of Pittsfield said the Massachusetts Democrat promised to use his staff to “help walk us through whatever problems crop up.’’
Yet, the status of Kerry’s own staff, and that of other members of Congress, remained unclear. Many aides face furloughs themselves.
The inability of congressional leaders so far to prevent a shutdown prompted a broadside from Kerry.
“This is disgraceful,’’ he said. “It’s going to hurt the United States of America; it’s going to hurt average people.’’
Senate majority leader Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, and House Speaker John Boehner, Republican of Ohio, spent yesterday shuttling between the White House and Capitol Hill for a series of negotiations.
A third White House meeting in two days ended last night with Obama saying differences had been narrowed and staffs would work through the night.
0 Comment:
Post a Comment