No end to US shutdown as workers suffer

More than 800,000 out of 3 million federal workers have entered the second week of a partial US government shutdown and have taken to social media to voice their concerns, while national parks have been left untended.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump met with Democratic Congressional leaders, incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Check Schumer, but insisted he would keep the government closed for “as long as it takes” to fund a border wall between the United States and Mexico.

Trump, who is seeking $5 billion for the wall, invited congressional leaders to return to the White House for another meeting on Friday, the day after Democrats take over as the majority in the House of Representatives.

“I am a single mother of three with no help. Not knowing if I can pay rent or feed my family next week is hard. … My kids feel my anxiety too,” a twitter user named @mj4ever wrote. She is one of the many federal workers who have taken to Twitter to express financial concerns.

“I’m an essential employee. I’ll get paid, but when?! We live paycheck to paycheck. I’m terrified we won’t be able to pay our mortgage, student loans, and other bills next month if this shutdown continues,” wrote Twitter user Becki. “I’ve literally woken up from nightmares about it already.”

Becki is one of the 420,000 federal employees who are considered “essential”, and are working without immediate pay, while another 380,000 are currently furloughed from their jobs.

There is a heavy concentration of federal workers in the Washington region, but the majority of federal employees work outside the nation’s capital. California, Texas, Florida and Georgia account for about 20 percent of the overall civilian workforce, according to data from the Office of Personnel Management.

A federal employees union representing about 400,000 essential personnel filed a lawsuit on Monday against the Trump administration, alleging that the partial government shutdown is illegally forcing these employees to work without pay since Dec 22.

In the past, including the 16-day shutdown in 2013, federal workers received back pay. That outcome is not guaranteed because it requires Congress and the White House to work together to pass a law mandating back pay.

The partial shutdown also has affected US national parks, museums and other attractions.

Empty beer cans, broken sleds, plastic plates, as well as human waste are overflowing in many US national reserves and parks as the shutdown prevents federal employees from cleaning toilets and picking up trash.

California’s Joshua Tree National Park, with more than 792,000 acres, closed its campgrounds on Wednesday due to health and safety concerns over near-capacity pit toilets.

“The park is being forced to take this action for health and safety concerns as vault toilets reach capacity,” the National Park Service said.

Human waste also has created a health hazard in Yosemite after visitors began using the roadside as a replacement for public toilets, according to a Los Angeles Times’ report on Monday.

As with other national parks, Joshua Tree and Yosemite will remain open.