[usconservative]

No offense, but there have been 17 shutdowns since 1970 something. You knew that going in when you took the job.

Exactly. And if one is a "non-essential" employee (the term FedGov uses to describe them ....) then exactly why does that job exist?

Seems to me we can probably fund a pretty big chunk of border wall by firing all the non-essential employees!

We don't hear terms like "non-essential employees" in the private sector, do we?!

[GreyFriar]

You posted: “And if one is a “non-essential” employee (the term FedGov uses to describe them ....) then exactly why does that job exist?”

Under the Federal rules, the folks who do the daily work of the government departments are considered ‘non-essential’ when these squabbles come up and only limited amount of maintenance personnel are declared ‘essential’ so that they can keep the building heat on, insure there are no water leaks, and that the building guard will be there to provide protection for the empty building.

For example, the employees of the Social Security administration who process new applications, resolve problems (I know that this seems to be rarely done), and other daily work to get the checks out are considered “non-essential,” while the maintenance crew and the building security folks are considered “essential.”

Screwy, ain’t it.

[Mr Rogers]

From a 2011 article on NPR, of all places, during an Obama government shutdown:

“Still, with so many federal agencies deemed essential, it’s unclear whether most Americans will even notice if the government is shut down.”

https://www.npr.org/2011/04/07/135199130/essential-vs-not-which-jobs-are-exempt-to-shutdown