WASHINGTON — Though much of the coverage of the government shutdown has focused on the drama unfolding in Washington, D.C., the effects are being felt widely across the country.
Less than two full days in, thousands of National Guard members have been furloughed, scientific research has been halted, federal technicians have been forced off the job, and wildlife refuges have been closed.
In Idaho, a rescue mission in search of a missing Boise woman was put on hold because the workers conducting it were furloughed. In Arkansas, more than 85,000 meals for children were endangered because of cuts to nutritional programs. And in Connecticut, 13 Head Start programs serving 320 children were shut down.
Not all of those impacted by the partial closure of the federal government actually work for the federal government.
Michele Sturgeon, a private contractor with the CDC Foundation, was forced to stop her work on rotaviruses and forego a salary because the Center for Disease Control and Prevention supervisor who runs her project was furloughed.
“If my supervisor is not there, there is not work for me to do and I don’t get paid either,” she told The Huffington Post. “Being a scientist I don’t get paid that much. I have two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s degree. I owe in student loans three times what I make. I live paycheck to paycheck. This is not financially stable for me at all.”
Nor has the fallout of the shutdown been confined to the United States. Kaitlyn Martin, a Numbered Air Force employee working at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, told The Huffington Post that the staff members who organize emergency travel in her office were furloughed and funds were made “unavailable for travel during the shutdown.”
“The problem for us is not that we’re out of work,” she explained. “Many are still working, though will likely face late paychecks until a resolution is made. The problem is that life goes on, and many of the smaller services which keep things running have been cut off.”
In an effort to understand the totality of the damage being inflicted by the government shutdown, The Huffington Post solicited reader feedback and surveyed hundreds of local news outlets in all 50 states. The results of our search — illustrating a nation under shutdown — are below.
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