Federal Employees and Contractors Demand End to Government Shutdown

Meanwhile, the longest government shutdown in U.S. history—now in its 27th day—continues to punish more than 800,000 federal employees who’ve gone without a paycheck since December 22. Workers rallied in airports in Sacramento, California, and Baltimore, Maryland, Wednesday, building on similar protests warning that the shutdown is threatening aviation security. There are reports of skyrocketing absences among federal employees forced to work without pay. On Capitol Hill, federal contractors held a protest outside the offices of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans, saying the shutdown threatens to deprive some 4 million contract workers of hundreds of millions of dollars in expected payments. On Wednesday, President Trump signed legislation that will grant back pay to federal workers once the shutdown is resolved, but there’s no indication that will come anytime soon, and will not apply to federal contractors.