Name:   Talullahhound - Subject:   shutdown Date:   1/10/2019 10:07:49 AM

As far as I know "non-essential" was created for these shut downs.  The essential employees are those that are selected to work wihtout pay to maintain basic operations (i.e., in case of a national crisis).  They are the ones left to respond to the Hill and any other emergencies that might come up.  The "non-essentials" are the rest of the people, and their work is piling up.  It doesn't truly mean they are "non essential, but when an organization doesn't have any money to pay it's workforce, someone has to be there to keep things going at some minimual level and the rest of the work doesn't get done.  It's really a meaningless term.  

Although the media likes to go on and on about the parks not being opened, and TSA workers calling in sick, there are a lot of other jobs that are just minimally staffed - like air traffic controllers and FDA inspectors.  Do you consider them "non-essential"?

I thiink it is going to come as a shock to Pelosi and Schumer when they finally wake up and realize that this President is not going to capituate.