I hope Democrats have a good election night this Tuesday.
@jeanne-mayell My spouse works for the federal government and is furloughed.
One thing I didn't realize is that many federal employees have use or lose time off they need to use by the end of the year. So, if they don't take that time off they basically give it up. Understandably, they don't want to do that.
One potential implication of this is that even if the government opens before the end of the year, many employees still won't be at work because they are using their allotted time off before it expires.
Plus, the holidays are coming up. Not to mention all the people who are probably going to leave their jobs because they are fed up.
And if they lose their time off without getting compensated they will also be - understandably - angry. (Being furloughed is not the same as having vacation time off. One reason being that you have to report to work within 24 hours if the government reopens, so you cannot make plans or take any big trips. Some people also have to take turns working and being furloughed during the day or week).
So this could still be messy when things re-open.