Jeff Suchman doesn’t know when he’ll get his next government paycheck.
“Last Friday was payday,” Suchman said. “And we got three fourths of a paycheck. Up through the 1st, and then that’s it.”
Suchman works for the Department of Labor in Kansas City, and is the president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1748. He’s been furloughed, like around 80% of his colleagues, he says, since October 1. That’s when the government shut down because Congress failed to pass a bill re-funding it.
Two weeks later, Congress is still deadlocked on a deal to open the government back up. And Suchman and his federal colleagues won’t get paid until then.
In Kansas City, lots of the 30,000 or so federal workers are in similar positions — home from work, unpaid, waiting for the politics to be worked out. Others are required to work without pay.
It’s frustrating, says Suchman.
“We're being stuck with the bill for a political fight that has nothing to do with us, and neither side left themselves really any wiggle room to negotiate,” he said.
With no clear end date, government workers in Kansas City are already making hard decisions about how to weather the shutdown.
“All of our people are having to sort of look at their finances, look at their budgets, especially if they're the sole primary breadwinner, and really start to look at, okay, ‘what can I float for a little bit longer? What can I put on a credit card? What do I just have to put off buying?’” Suchman said.
Many federal workers live paycheck to paycheck, Suchman says. He’s heard about people planning for garage sales and taking their kids out of day care. Some are even looking for other jobs.
Federal employees are supposed to get back pay for the length of the shutdown, but the Trump Administration has threatened to withhold it from some workers.
The Trump Administration also announced some would be laid off, although a federal judge blocked those layoffs Wednesday.
Daniel Scharpenburg, vice president of National Treasury Employees Union Local 66, says he knows of three IRS employees in the Kansas City area who have received a “reduction in force” notice.
He thinks there could be more. The union only knows about those layoffs because the employees notified them – the agency isn’t sharing any information.
“The morale at the IRS right now is really low,” Sharpenburg said. “We’re worried that there will be another round of (reduction in force) notices if this shutdown goes on.”
About half of Kansas City’s IRS employees are furloughed. Many, including Sharpenburg, are simmering in the uncertainty of what’s coming.
He said some wonder if they’ve been laid off and don’t know, because they don’t have access to their work emails during the shutdown. Those who were laid off got their notices to their personal email addresses.
The last federal shutdown, in 2019, lasted 35 days — the longest ever. Suchman, with AFGE Local 1748, is worried it could last longer this time around.
Food pantries are preparing for an influx of users if the shutdown continues for a month or more.
Stronghold Food Pantry, based at Fort Leavenworth, provides food and necessities for military families across the country. The Trump Administration said it redirected funds to pay active duty military during the shutdown, but founder and CEO Monica Bassett said there’s still uncertainty.
“There’s still no resolution. And at some point this funding that is going to allow for an October 15 paycheck to happen might not be there come November 1,” she said.
Stronghold Food Pantry experienced a 300% increase in demand in Kansas and Missouri during the first 10 days of October. Bassett said she added shopping days at its Fort Leavenworth location.
Harvesters, which provides food assistance for more than 1,200 programs across 27 Kansas and Missouri counties, is planning for an influx, too. It’s not seeing increased demand yet, but is coordinating to make sure that the region has enough supply to potentially support thousands more in need at a time when food insecurity is already up more than 10% over last year.
“So to add upwards of another 40,000 folks who need food assistance as a result of the shutdown, would be really challenging for us to absorb without significant investment from the community,” said Elizabeth Keever, Chief Resource Officer for Harvesters.
Keever said that during the last shutdown, Harvesters worked with federal workers’ unions to help provide food assistance through mobile food pantries and other projects. She says she hopes to build on those lessons to help provide this year, if the shutdown continues.
The Senate will vote for the ninth time on the House-approved stopgap spending bill Wednesday.
