The federal government has been shutdown for over a week as Republicans and Democrats have not been able to reach 60 votes in the Senate to pass a bipartisan funding bill.
On Friday, KCUR's Up To Date spoke with a congressman, agriculture economist and a Treasury employee union vice president about how this is impacting our region.
The vice president of NTEU Chapter 66 explained how the shutdown is affecting the livelihoods of thousands of federal workers in our metro. Just hours after this segment aired, the White House announced that it was beginning "substantial" layoffs of federal workers, with few details about how widespread the reductions-in-force would be.
We also heard from an agriculture economist who laid out how the shutdown is putting farmers around the country in a difficult financial situation. Kansas City-area U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II also discussed where things stand in Washington as lawmakers work to figure out the path forward.
- Chad Hart, professor of economics at Iowa State University
- U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, D-Missouri
- Daniel Scharpenburg, vice president of NTEU Chapter 66