海角大神

鈥楢 mad rush鈥�: Federal workers return to backlogs 鈥� and another shutdown deadline

When a government attorney for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration went to work after the 43-day government shutdown ended, a banner outside the building read: 鈥淲elcome back NOAA!鈥� Someone had managed to put it up before employees arrived, despite the back-to-work notice arriving after 11 p.m. the night before.

鈥淚t was touching,鈥� the attorney says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 good to be back.鈥�

She was among the roughly 670,000 government employees furloughed during the country鈥檚 longest federal shutdown, which ended on Nov. 12 when Congress approved a spending bill through the end of January. The workers spanned government agencies from the NOAA to the Justice Department.

Workers have stacks of emails to sift through and phone calls to return.

Some might take a few days to get caught up at work, while for others it could take weeks 鈥� which means the same is true for Americans who rely on government services. And for some workers, the shutdown was one more blow in a difficult year, as the Trump administration has sought to diminish the federal bureaucracy by encouraging early retirements or by layoffs 鈥� including firing roughly 4,000 during the shutdown. (They will be brought back as part of the deal that ended the shutdown.)

The Monitor spoke with six federal workers about their return. All but one asked that their names not be used because they鈥檙e worried they could be fired for talking publicly 鈥� and one cited a Washington Post report that the Trump administration plans to fire an Agriculture Department employee for giving a television interview in which she talked about the impact the shutdown would have on her team. The employees who spoke with the Monitor all said they were speaking for themselves, not for their agencies.

They had watched the shutdown drag on, often reminded they were designated as 鈥渘onessential鈥� workers. Now, they鈥檙e wanting to move forward.

鈥淚 think all of us felt like we were losing momentum,鈥� says another NOAA employee. 鈥淚鈥檓 just ready to go back and serve the public.鈥�

鈥淭he first person I鈥檓 calling back鈥�

The NOAA attorney spent her first morning back helping colleagues cart boxes of office plants from their cars, passing the banner on the agency鈥檚 building along the way.

Her job is to enforce violations of federal marine resource laws for the NOAA. Right away, she noticed several missed emails and phone calls from a fisherman who had been prosecuted in a civil case only days before the shutdown began.

He wanted to pay his civil penalty so he could close out the case. But, because of the shutdown, the NOAA couldn鈥檛 send him a bill.

鈥淭hat is the first person I鈥檓 calling back,鈥� she decided. 鈥淚 feel quite bad that he鈥檚 been waiting for almost seven weeks for a response from the agency when he鈥檚 trying to do his part to take responsibility.鈥�

As she catches up with missed work, the attorney鈥檚 biggest priority is making sure enforcement cases are active and can move along. She鈥檚 confident she can get it done, but it will take some juggling.

Another NOAA employee, who has worked for the agency for more than 25 years, found a way to reconnect with the agency鈥檚 mission. While furloughed, she walked 63 miles along Monterey Bay in California, picking up trash along the way as she listened to the waves.

The first thing on her to-do list is filling out her time sheet to finally get paid. But her priority is on a job she believes in: getting money sent to educational programs the NOAA helps fund 鈥� which are designed to nurture knowledge of Earth sciences in new generations of Americans. It鈥檒l take weeks, perhaps a month, to get back to speed.

She can get most programs caught up 鈥� but not all of them. Some of the schools she works with have missed field trips they can鈥檛 reschedule. Some school and community gardens receiving federal funding missed a planting season.

The projects 鈥渁re all going to be impacted in small ways, and some in very large ways,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檓 not saving peoples鈥� lives. But I do believe that my presence in my community is valuable.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 constant change鈥�

At the Defense Department, one employee returning to the office said she was pleasantly surprised that the tech staff had made sure all computers had updated software and security patches, which potentially would have created a heavy backlog of computers unavailable for use.

The one glitch: Employees with expired common access cards, which allow people to get into buildings, had to have them renewed.

Even though there weren鈥檛 major return-to-work problems, going back to the office carries a personal toll.

鈥淎fter a month, we have gotten used to being home and taking care of people in our household,鈥� says the employee. 鈥淚t鈥檚 high stress, it鈥檚 constant change. ... I鈥檝e considered leaving.鈥�

鈥淭here鈥檚 going to be a mad rush鈥�

Theresa Kim didn鈥檛 treat her furlough as a vacation. She spent the time volunteering, helping an organization called 27 UNIHTED raise more than $20,000 for families affected by the shutdown. She spotted at least 10 of her colleagues from the National Institutes of Health at these volunteer events.

鈥淚t was a time to reflect on who needs us,鈥� she says, 鈥渁nd where can we serve?鈥�

Now, Dr. Kim is back to her regular work in health systems research. But it doesn鈥檛 feel like things are back to normal 鈥� especially with government funding set to run out again in January unless Congress passes a new spending bill.

鈥淚鈥檓 sure there鈥檚 going to be a mad rush of trying to complete things before January 31 comes,鈥� she says, because she believes the government will shut down again.

That means two big scrambles, she says: one to catch up on projects before the holidays, and another to get more tasks out the door before the end of January.

The shutdown that began on Oct. 1 and ended last Wednesday could also have a significant impact on the research grant process for scientists, says another employee of the National Institutes of Health.

For example, the employee says the NIH might have to cut the number of grant applications they鈥檙e able to look over, because of lost time for review.

鈥淭his places our long-term competitive and financial edge at risk,鈥� the NIH worker says. 鈥淢any breakthroughs in medical treatments and tech are started with taxpayer-funded grants.鈥�

鈥淲e were all used as pawns鈥�

One civil servant at the Justice Department didn鈥檛 have much of a backlog. That鈥檚 partly because the cases she was working on were also suspended during the furlough, so it鈥檚 not too hard to pick up where she left off.

But the workload is also lighter because she works in the agency鈥檚 civil rights division, and their caseload has been greatly reduced under the second Trump administration. Now, the division鈥檚 focus is on antisemitism cases 鈥� not on potential rights violations against Black, Hispanic, or LGBTQ+ people.

In her more than 20 years of government work, the civil servant has seen other shutdowns. She says she and her colleagues were expecting something like this to happen, and she had money saved that helped her make it through, though she said she had furloughed friends who were 鈥渞eally stressed.鈥�

However, when the Trump administration suggested in early October that some workers might not receive back pay, despite a law requiring it, that was very concerning.

鈥淲e were all used as pawns in this war with the Republicans and the Democrats,鈥� she says.

The administration says it is working to pay back all employees.

Despite the challenges they face, though, there鈥檚 a common sentiment from government employees: They鈥檙e glad to be back to work.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 go into this job thinking we鈥檙e going to make a lot of money,鈥� says Dr. Kim. 鈥淲e go into it because we want to serve our country.鈥�

Caitlin Babcock and Scott Baldauf reported from Washington, and Ali Martin from Los Angeles.