After days of failed negotiations, the federal government has officially shut down. And with the closing of national parks, monuments and government buildings, federal agencies are shuttering their websites and Twitter accounts with varying senses of urgency, from the White House’s overboard message to the Pentagon’s subtle warning.
The Office of Management and Budget sounded the alarms around 11:30 p.m. Monday, alerting federal agencies to begin their shutdown procedures as both the Senate and House continued debating on their respective floors. Some effects of the shutdown were felt immediately as the Smithsonian shuttered the popular Panda Cam at the National Zoo, while the National Mall remained open until Tuesday morning when Parks Police set up barricades around the vicinity.
And as non-essential federal workers stayed home Tuesday morning, agency websites began posting notices to their virtual visitors alerting them webpages wouldn’t be updated or managed. Some, like the the announcement on the White House’s website, whitehouse.gov, went a little overboard, while others like that on the Department of Defense’s site, defense.gov, were a bit more subtle.
At the Department of Agriculture’s webpage, officials noted the website was unavailable because of a lapse in government funding. To the contrary, the Department of Homeland Security had a simple message to visitors, writing “this website will no be actively managed.”
And the shutdown wasn’t restricted to the government’s websites either. Many agencies ceased activation of their respective Twitter accounts as functions of non-essential workers such as social media managers were halted.
Due to a lapse in government funding, this account will not be active until further notice.
— U.S. Capitol (@uscapitol) October 1, 2013
We do not plan on updating social media other than to inform you of the operating status of the museums #shutdown
— Smithsonian (@smithsonian) October 1, 2013
We’re sorry, but we will not tweet or respond to @ replies during the government shutdown. We’ll be back as soon as possible!
— USA.gov (@USAgov) October 1, 2013
Due to the Federal Government shutdown, we will not be able to tweet. Visit http://t.co/11N2X9p8qm.
— US National Archives (@USNatArchives) October 1, 2013
The threat of an impending shutdown loomed for several days as the House and Senate worked — and failed — to come to an agreement on a continuing resolution. Late Monday night, House Republicans voted to send the measure to a conference committee, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he would not appoint conferees and adjourned the Senate until 9:30 Tuesday morning.
As the Senate convened Tuesday, though, it struck down the motion to head to conference, putting Congress at a stalemate and the federal government plummeting deeper into a shutdown.
Check out some agencies’ websites shutdown notifications below.
Department of Energy
White House
Department of Agriculture
Department of Defense
Department of Homeland Security
Department of the Treasury
