Closing hits home in state
Park visitors stymied, federal workers wary as negotiations go on
As lawmakers in Washington struggled to find a spending deal that enough members of both parties and President Donald Trump could accept, the first effects of the partial federal government shutdown began to be felt in Baltimore.
A small crowd of confused and disappointed visitors gathered Saturday morning outside the closed gates to Fort McHenry.
A sign said visitors could enter the national monument at their own risk, but the gates were firmly closed. A security officer told the crowd that opening the gates would amount to a visitor service, which the National Park Service couldn’t provide without funding from Congress.
Across Maryland, meanwhile, tens of thousands of federal workers were watching Washington to see whether they will be heading back to work Monday or beginning an indefinite unpaid leave.
The second shutdown in five years began at midnight Friday after Republicans and Democrats failed to reach a deal to keep funding government operations. Congress convened for a rare weekend session Saturday to try to break the impasse. Leaders told lawmakers to stay in town as negotiations continued behind closed doors. But prospects for a swift end to the standoff soon dimmed, and a Senate vote was reportedly being scheduled for 1 a.m. Monday.
Witold Skwierczynski, the president of a union that represents workers at the Social Security Administration headquarters in
Woodlawn, said they’re angry that Congress and the White House haven’t come up with a solution to protect their paychecks. Already some overtime work for Saturday had been canceled, he said, and workers were uncertain about what was to come.
“There’s almost no information given to them,” Skwierczynski said. “They’re watching the news to figure out what’s happening.”
At Fort McHenry, the closed gates blocked Justin Fabrizio’s jogging route. But that wasn’t the worst of it. Fabrizio, a software tester for a government contractor, said he’s been told that if the shutdown isn’t over by Monday he shouldn’t return to work.
Alex Puccio, Fabrizio’s running buddy, said he didn’t understand why the government had shut down when Republicans control both chambers of Congress and the White House. “It’s silly,” he said.
Amy Rienow, visiting from Chicago, said she had checked on her phone and thought the fort would be open.
“My kids really wanted to see this place,” she said.
Rienow, who watched from the public gallery as House members passed a spending measure Thursday, blamed Democrats for the shutdown. While Republicans hold majorities in Congress, a deal can’t pass the Senate without the support of at least some Democrats. Democrats are seeking protections for immigrants brought to the country illegally as children — known as Dreamers — as part of a deal.
“I 100 percent blame the Democrats,” Rienow said. “It’s just politics. They’re just trying to play games.”
Not so, said members of Maryland’s mostly Democratic congressional delegation. Rep. Steny Hoyer of Southern Maryland, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, appeared at a news conference with party leaders to blame Republicans.
“No American ought to be confused; consistently the strategy of the Republican Party has been to take America hostage and shut down the government,” Hoyer said. “This is a shutdown that President Trump welcomed.”
At the Women’s March in Baltimore, other members of the delegation attacked the president.
“We’re going back today,” said Rep. C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger, a Baltimore County Democrat. “The current administration and congressional leaders are so out of touch they would rather shut down the government than provide long-term funding for basic priorities.
“Our requests are reasonable: Give children health care, protect the Dreamers, help us fight the opioid epidemic and honor our veterans.”
If the shutdown continues, the effects will be felt unevenly in Maryland.
The federal judiciary has money to keep running for several more weeks, meaning there shouldn’t be a delay in the corruption trial of two Baltimore police officers scheduled to begin Monday. The uniformed military will keep working, but many civilian defense workers will not.
A prolonged shutdown would have a significant financial impact in Maryland, home to some 300,000 federal workers — roughly 10 percent of the state workforce — and many more contractors. Those workers would not be paid during a shutdown.
After shutdowns in the past, Congress has approved retroactive pay for federal employees, but not generally for contractors. Even federal workers who are eventually paid say the interruption in cash flow wreaks havoc with household finances.
Maryland state Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael Busch estimated the cost to Maryland of a shutdown at $5 million a day.
“The threat of a government shutdown creates uncertainty for federal workers which, in turn, creates instability in our economy,” they wrote in a letter Wednesday to Republican leaders in Washington.
Mary Camper, a Social Security employee and union official, said workers will receive one full paycheck for days already worked, but then will face uncertainty. Camper said Saturday she was keeping an eye on the news out of Washington but not letting it dominate her weekend. “You can’t sit there and wallow,” she said. The way forward remains uncertain. The next vote, on a stopgap measure proposed by Republicans to keep government running for three weeks, was not expected until late today or even early Monday.
Democrats have objected to a temporary funding bill, the fifth this fiscal year, without assurances that Trump and Republican leaders would use the time to negotiate a resolution to the standoff over immigration and other outstanding budget issues.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called for action Saturday.
“Let’s end this foolishness,” the Kentucky Republican said as he opened the chamber at noon Saturday. “Let’s reopen the government and resume the bipartisan discussions.”
The focus of the action remained in the Senate, where McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer were trying to hatch a plan that could win 60 votes in a bipartisan deal.
Schumer said dealing with the Republicans has been like an Abbott and Costello routine, with GOP leaders sending him to talk with Trump and the president pushing him back to Republican leaders. At one point, Schumer said he thought he and Trump had a deal, only to have the president abruptly reverse course.
“Negotiating with the White House is like negotiating with Jell-O,” the New York Democrat said.
Rep. Andy Harris, Maryland’s sole Republican in Congress, said it was Schumer who was at fault.
“Senator Schumer is not interested in governing, only obstructing those who are,” the Baltimore County lawmaker said in a Twitter post.