posted by like_that
Do you have a link where the IRS is funded? I must have missed this and I can't find anything other than they are working for free, just like TSA and other agencies (like the coast guard) forcing "essential" employees to work for free.
Yeah, that is the current situation. Outside the State Department, which found some magical funds recently, most of the civilian agencies are working for free. They will get the back pay, but they are working for free right now.
The contractors are getting screwed as they most likely will not get back pay.
I kind of agree as I see it going two weeks, but it is going to take something massive or a shock to get people to find a solution. Trump had an escape route, with the national emergency, but chose, probably rightly, not to take it.
No one has any reason to blink right now. Both sides see they are winning and both bases are cheering them on to hold out until the other folds. I think also the fact the DOD is fully funded and at work makes this shutdown seem less bad as we are not withholding money for the troops. So, short of using TSA agents stories, more and more stories about unemployment, or large walkouts by agents, I doubt something will move the public long enough to move the needle to force a solution.
Trump also has little reason to give in. He is fighting for his main issue, sees himself as the foil for the liberal Ds in the House.
He is also essentially stealing the limelight and actual productivity of the new D House. Instead of the House fully focusing on the issues they were elected on, like healthcare and investigating Trump, they are having to just simply work on funding the government. It is a good hard nosed realist strategy.