McLEAN, VA — Greenberries, the independent coffee shop in this tony suburb of Washington, D.C., is bustling at 10 a.m. on Election Day 2025. One reason: the federal government shutdown, currently on Day 35, has left many government workers furloughed, and thus with nowhere else to be.

The 2025 shutdown has avoided media attention, perhaps because Democrats caused it, and public attention, perhaps because of massive news exhaustion, but here in Northern Virginia, it’s a big deal.