From The International Herald Tribune: Lights start to go off as shutdown begins BY MICHAEL D. SHEAR WASHINGTON — The vast machinery of the federal U.S. government began grinding to a halt on Tuesday morning just hours after weary lawmakers gave up hope of passing a budget in the face of Republican attacks on President Obama’s health care law. For the first time in 17 years, Congress failed on Monday night to agree on a new budget and refused to extend the current one. Without the authority to spend money, the executive branch on Tuesday morning started the process of temporarily mothballing facilities and suspending the many services the government provides. After a series of back-and-forth legislative maneuvers late on Monday night and into Tuesday morning, the House and Senate did not reach a resolution, and the Senate halted business until later on Tuesday while the House took steps to open talks. On Tuesday morning, the Senate rejected a House proposal to begin conference committee negotiations, and the next legislative steps remained uncertain. More than 800,000 federal workers across the United States are bracing for an uncertain financial future in the days ahead as many government agencies prepared to close their doors, set up barricades and turn out the lights. Traveling in Seoul on Tuesday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called the shutdown ‘‘nonsensical’’ and said it would lead to the immediate furlough of about 400,000 civilian employees. (Mr. Obama signed legislation late on Monday night ensuring that uniformed members of the military would get paid during the shutdown.) ‘‘It does cast a very significant pall over America’s credibility with our allies when this kind of thing happens,’’ Mr. Hagel said. ‘‘It’s nonsensical. It’s needless. It didn’t have to happen.’’ At the Justice Department, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. pledged to give back a portion of his salary in solidarity with his employees. ‘‘As I’ve made clear to the people in this department, we are all in this together, and whatever pain they suffer, I will share with them,’’ Mr. Holder said as the shutdown approached. Even as they contemplated a short-term future without pay, many federal employees in Washington headed into work on Tuesday anyway, the result of a directive at some agencies requiring workers to show up briefly so they could help wrap up their work and shut down their facilities. At the Federal Communications Commission, officials instructed their 1,716 employees to arrive at work on Tuesday for no more than four hours. After that, the agency said, it would send all but about 38 of those employees home for the duration of the shutdown. Those ‘‘essential’’ employees will keep working on programs that address radio interference detection, treaty negotiations and other critical information technology issues, officials said. The crowds were lighter than normal early Tuesday at L’Enfant Plaza in Washington, where there are a number of federal agencies. Phillip Davenport, a management analyst at the Federal Aviation Administration, who was deemed an essential employee, said he was expecting a heavier workload. During the last shutdown 17 years ago, Mr. Davenport was on active duty in the military, based in Alaska. ‘‘Back then, I don’t remember for sure, but we came to work regardless of whether we were paid or not,’’ he said. On Monday afternoon, Mr. Obama described the potential closures in the case of a shutdown. He noted that ‘‘every one of the parks and monuments’’ would be immediately closed. That process began early on Tuesday as park officials restricted access to some of the country’s most iconic locations and barricades went up to keep out tourists. At about 8 a.m., the steps of the Lincoln Memorial were being taped off by National Park police officers, metal barricades were erected and tourists were being turned away. Coincidentally, visitors to Google’s home page on Tuesday morning woke up to a doodle of park ranger patches honoring the 123rd anniversary of Yosemite National Park. The National Zoo in Washington closed its gates to tourists. Zoo officials said they planned to flip off the two cameras that feed images to the popular ‘‘Giant Panda Cam’’ Web site for fans wanting to watch the rare new panda cub that was born last month. By 10 a.m., the panda cam said simply: ‘‘Error loading stream.’’ A message on the zoo’s Web site said that ‘‘all vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle paths into the zoo will be closed. None of our live animal cams will broadcast.’’ The Web site added that ‘‘all the animals will continue to be fed and cared for.’’ People who do not work for the federal government will quickly start feeling the effect of the government shutdown. After a general retreat on Monday, global investors reacted calmly on Tuesday in the hours after Congressional negotiations collapsed, as investors focused on the Oct. 17 deadline for raising the debt ceiling. Stocks on Wall Street opened slightly higher, while European and Asian stocks were mixed. The bond and foreign exchange markets were quiet. Those looking for financial data to assess the impact of a shutdown will have to do it without help from the Congressional Budget Office and the Census, both of which are closing. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is scheduled to issue its monthly jobs report this Friday, is also closing. As the shutdown approached on Monday, James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence, sent a classified assessment of its impact to members of Congress on the intelligence committees. One congressional aide said the assessment was ‘‘very troubling’’ to many members because it showed a ‘‘very considerable reduction in force while the shutdown goes on.’’ The aide, who declined to be named discussing a classified report, said Mr. Clapper declassified one sentence from the assessment: ‘‘Approximately 72 percent of the civilian work force will be furloughed.’’ Jennifer Steinhauer contributed reporting from Seoul, Charlie Savage, Emmarie Huetteman and Eric Schmitt from Washington, and Victoria Shannon from New York. ◼ Get the best global news and analysis direct to your device – download the IHT apps for free today! For iPad: itunes.apple/us/app/international-herald-tribune/id404757420?mt=8 For iPhone: itunes.apple/us/app/international-herald-tribune/id404764212?mt=8
Posted on: Tue, 01 Oct 2013 23:14:17 +0000
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