It was back to business as usual Saturday in the District as tourists were able to execute Plan A and visit the zoo or Smithsonian museums and federal workers got to keep their jobs — and their precious BlackBerries — after a government shutdown was narrowly averted. Despite overcast skies and brisk temperatures, thousands of people lined Constitution Avenue for the annual National Cherry Blossom Parade, which ran its full, originally planned route. Afterwards the government run museums were mobbed with crowds of tourists from all over the county and parts of Europe and Asia — a run-of-the-mill D.C. tourist scene that almost wasn’t.
| On avoiding the shutdown | ||
| “The contingency plans for a lot of the companies I worked with were actually pretty frightening. If the shutdown had lasted past the weekend, especially for smaller companies, layoffs would have started.” | ||
| — Mark Amtower, government contracting consultant | ||
| “With Congress waiting until literally the last second they’re really not giving anyone the ability to [plan ahead]. That’s not a success, that’s a failure.” | ||
| — Nell Codner, NOAA employee | ||
| “I was basically unemployed during the height of the recession because I worked at a nonprofit and they really took a hit. …So I’m relieved, but only in the short term.” | ||
| –Shawn Logue, GSA contractor | ||
“We were sweating bullets until about midnight last night,” said Joel Cartwright, who was exiting the National Museum of American History with his wife and two children. “At one point [before the trip] we were considering changing our plans.”
The Cartwrights, from Cincinnati, said their contingency plan was to rent a car and go to George Washington’s home in Mount Vernon.
Meanwhile Daniel Hanell, 7, donned his replica Civil War Union soldier’s hat Saturday and got his wish of going to the American History Museum. Daniel’s dad, Thomas, said they were relieved to be able to make the visit before heading back to Bermuda on Sunday.
But while visitors were mostly just happy to fulfill their sight-seeing plans, the reaction from workers Saturday was a mix of relief and disenchantment. Many people said they had spent the last week preparing for a shutdown by backing up their BlackBerries, pausing project plans and making their work accessible to the few employees who were cleared to work during a shutdown.
Now, that’s all time wasted said Nell Codner, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration employee.
“So many of us had to put off so many things because we didn’t know what was going to happen,” she said. “So [when they reached a deal], it wasn’t joy, it wasn’t relief, it was disgust that they should take this so far and only now get it done.”
While some employees woke up to the news Saturday, Lamine Hardaway, a Treasury Department employee, stayed glued to his television late into Friday night.
Hardaway said he was prepared to file for unemployment benefits after a week of no work.
Unlike the 1995 shutdown, government employees did not expect to receive back pay after they returned. But those who contract with the feds said they didn’t get paid at all 15 years ago and were bracing for the same come Monday.
An estimated 150,000 federal employees live in the Washington region according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Many thousands more work under contracts with the government, which would have widened the economic impact if the government had shutdown.
“It just doesn’t appear to me that they really care about the middle class,” said Mike Pickrel, an engineer for the World Wide Information Network Systems, which contracts with the Department of State.
Shawn Logue, a General Services Administration contractor, said his relief is only short term. “Possible cuts in the future might … affect me,” he said.
