Workers decry Trump officials as 'out of control' as longest shutdown drags on

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Guardian

Thu 6 Nov 2025 06.00 EST
Last modified on Thu 6 Nov 2025 06.02 EST


As the US federal shutdown enters its second month, government workers are accusing the Trump administration of being “out of control” and bullying people who are “simply trying to do their best”. The shutdown surpassed 35 days this week, beating the previous record set under Donald Trump’s first presidential term. About 700,000 federal employees are furloughed without pay, and about 700,000 additional federal workers have been working without pay through the shutdown.

Affected workers say the shutdown has been a continuation of attacks they have experienced under the Trump administration, from mass firings – many of which have been overturned or blocked in federal courts – to drastic budget cuts, pushes to take early retirements or resignation buyouts, and threats of withholding back pay for workers furloughed during the shutdown.

“It’s already been a chaotic year,” said Micah Niemeier-Walsh, who works at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Niosh). She was initially fired along with most employees at the agency, but reinstated in May after a court intervened to block most of the firings.

“For many agencies, like the one that I am employed by, we’ve been effectively shut down for many months already because of the reductions in force that have already happened, and all of the attacks that we’ve been seeing on the federal workforce,” said Niemeier-Walsh, who is also vice-president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 3840. “It’s become out of control, and I really hope that this shutdown is a wake-up call of how bad things have gotten.”

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/06/trump-federal-government-shutdown

[Irish_Dem]

1. Trump and the GOP is totally out of control. And will get worse.

[Solly Mack]

2. We can't go much longer without pay. Just a simple fact.

We've done what we could to buffer ourselves. Down to the basics and little else. But time isn't on our side.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. Congress can pass the individual appropriations bills

LIKE THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO DO this past year and bring staff back on covered by each, once that is done.

The GOP is doing an "all or nothing C.R." threat while they waste time on political gamesmanship.

During the Gingrich shutdown in 1995 - 1996 (a total of 26 days with a brief gap between two lapses and a short-term C.R. separating those lapse periods), my agency was one of the few (I think there were only 3 Departments funded back then - Agriculture, Treasury, Defense) that actually had funding. The other 9 or so weren't and those employees were furloughed without pay.

Every day during that shutdown, I walked into my old hulking multi-agency building, and was greeted to empty floors, offices and corridors.

But the entire government WASN'T shut down back then because there WERE those couple of individual appropriations that were done, and they should have completed for the rest (even doing them as "Minibus" or "Omnibus" combos) before it went on so long.

During the Carnival Cruz "Green Eggs and Ham" shutdown of 2013, my agency had no appropriations, so I was furloughed, without pay, for 17 days.

[Solly Mack]

4. Working without pay here.

Time soon to pay the yearly rate for health insurance (Tricare prime for retirees). Property tax time. Usual bills. The Holidays.

Republicans can kiss my ass.

Still, it is galling that Congress is getting paid when we aren't.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. And worse

The House hasn't been in full session in 6 weeks, so they have done NOTHING but getting a paycheck, and that probably should be blared out as a "record" considering that it's either close or at the number of weeks they would take for an August recess (which they already did this past summer).

Apparently some members are donating their pay to various organizations.

[Solly Mack]

7. We're trying not to get bitter about it all. Oh, we're angry. First the DOGE attacks, then everything else. It's hard.

[BumRushDaShow]

9. Yup.

I have very close relatives and some former co-workers caught up in this mess.

[Solly Mack]

10. I think we ought to receive punitive damages for the stress and mental anguish caused by it all.

I know it would never happen, but it would be justice.

[BumRushDaShow]

12. I agree

Even something as simple as a higher than usual COLA (haven't heard a peep about that at all) and getting full days off ahead of holidays (instead of an hour Admin leave) at least.

[republianmushroom]

6. They were told, live and learn, dudes.

[PSPS]

8. While people wait in bread lines, trump shows off his new gold-plated bathroom to "the press."

[RussBLib]

11. It should be Congress that does not get paid

....and those that do the daily required grind should get paid. That would solve the shutdown pretty quick. As usual, backwards priorities.