Shutdown threatens furloughs at Tinker
Congressional leaders and President Donald Trump failed to reach an agreement Friday to fund the government, risking furloughs at the state’s largest employer.
The Defense Department announced earlier in the day that non-essential civilian employees at the nation’s military bases, including Tinker Air Force Base, would face furloughs if a government funding deal was not passed.
Military personnel and essential civilian employees at Tinker, which employs more than 31,000 people, will continue working but not be paid until a government funding bill is signed into law, according to the Pentagon.
“We are optimistic that Congress will continue funding the government. If a shutdown occurs, employees are expected to report on the first normally scheduled workday to receive instructions and conduct an orderly shutdown of operations,” Tinker Air Force Base officials said in a statement Friday.
Elsewhere in the city, it is not expected to have major ramifications.
The closure of national parks and monuments is a common symptom of government shutdowns. Though the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum is affiliated with the federal government, it receives its funding from a foundation, effectively shielding it from shutdowns.
“Even if the government shuts down, the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum will continue to operate as normal,” said spokeswoman Mary Ann Eckstein. “We are an affiliate of the National Park Service and actually owned and operated by the Oklahoma City National Memorial Foundation. So, everything will be as normal.”
Carmelita Reeder Shinn, clerk of the federal court in Oklahoma City, said the court will remain open without interruption next week.
“In the event of a shutdown, the federal judiciary does not shut down,” Shinn said.
Not immediately, at least. Shinn said the court can sustain a shutdown for three weeks without detriment. After that, the court will have to consider its options, she said.
The Oklahoma City VA hospital will not be affected by the shutdown, according to spokeswoman Stacy Rine.
“Veterans Health Administration has advanced appropriations and will continue to operate should a government shutdown occur,” she said. “Our hospital and all of our outpatient clinics fall under VHA so we will continue normal operations.”
Other government agencies and services unaffected by a shutdown include the Postal Service, which operates under an independent funding stream, and social service payments, such as Medicare, Social Security and food stamps.
Air traffic control will continue uninterrupted, as will funding for the Transportation Security Administration. The shutdown’s effects on the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City is not known. Repeated requests for comment from a center spokesman were not answered Friday.
Blame game
In Washington and elsewhere, the threat of a government shutdown prompted political finger-pointing in all directions. Republicans blamed Democrats for insisting immigration provisions be inserted into the bill; Democrats blamed Republicans for failing to keep the government open at a time when they control all elected branches of that government.
“I absolutely grieve for the federal workers in my state,” said Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma City, in a speech on the Senate floor Friday, “and there are some phenomenal people that do an amazing job that most people never know their name but every day they are getting up to serve the American people.”
Tom Guild, a Democrat challenging Rep. Steve Russell, accused Trump of fiddling as America burns.
“We have a president who allows his ego to trump keeping the lights on and the government functioning,” he said in a statement. “How tragic that a proud country’s government has come to this!”
Russell, an Oklahoma City Republican, said earliest this week that a shutdown was unlikely.
“I think that would be devastating to our Department of Defense,” he told The Hill. “Do we want to hold our men and women in uniform hostage over political nonsense?”