by Xiong Maoling, Hu Yousong, Xie E
WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- As the U.S. federal government shutdown entered its third week on Tuesday, long lines of federal employees and contractors stretched outside a food relief site in Hyattsville, Maryland, on the eastern outskirts of Washington, D.C., where people waited quietly to collect free groceries.
The event, organized by the nonprofit Capital Area Food Bank, provided essential food items, including chicken, tuna, spaghetti, tomatoes, oats, and milk. Staff and volunteers checked identification before distribution, while a truckload of new supplies drew cheers and applause from the crowd, momentarily breaking the subdued atmosphere.
Pamelia Carter, an Agriculture Department employee and a member of No Limits Outreach Ministries -- a partner organization of the food bank -- volunteered at the distribution site. She told Xinhua that Friday, Oct. 24, is supposed to be payday. However, "there will be no check this week."
Supporting a family of five, including an 18-year-old daughter in college, Carter said losing her monthly income would bring "absolute hardship" for the family. Although money had been set aside, Carter had no idea how long the emergency cash would last. "If I have enough funds to cover us for a month, what happens during the second month?" she said.
Theodore Pough, a civilian employee at the Department of Defense, said he had been furloughed since Oct. 1 and received only part of his salary earlier this month. With another payday approaching, he feared his next paycheck would not come at all. Pough told Xinhua that rising food prices -- especially for beef and chicken -- have exacerbated his financial strain.
As the government shutdown drags on, the Capital Area Food Bank recently announced that it would begin distributing free food to federal employees and contractors starting this week, with the Tuesday event being the first. The organization will continue distributions later this week at several locations in Washington, D.C., as well as in neighboring Maryland and Virginia.
Many restaurants and bars, as well as other businesses across the capital area, have begun offering discounts to federal employees.
As financial pressures on federal employees continue to intensify, the government shutdown -- already marking three weeks -- still shows no signs of ending.
Just a day earlier, on Monday, the U.S. Senate once again failed to pass a temporary funding bill for the federal government -- marking the 11th unsuccessful attempt. Democrats insist that any agreement must address their demands on healthcare benefits, while Republicans argue that Congress should first pass a stopgap funding measure to reopen the government.
The two parties continue to trade blame and accusations. "Everyone can see what is happening with Senate Democrats in Washington: they're surrendering out of fear to the radical Left," House Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican from Louisiana, said on X.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, refuted the Republican. "There is nothing far left, right, or center about lowering healthcare premiums and sparing tens of millions of Americans from financial ruin," Schumer said on X.
As the stalemate between the two parties continues, the impact of the shutdown on various sectors of society is spreading nationwide.
On late Sunday, the Federal Aviation Administration said that air traffic control staffing issues were delaying travel at airports in Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta and Newark. The agency also warned that flights in Las Vegas and Phoenix could face delays due to air traffic control absences.
According to data from FlightAware, between Saturday and Monday, nearly 20,000 flights within, to and from the United States were delayed, with delays peaking on Sunday at nearly 8,000 flights.
According to The Hill, some 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration employees responsible for security screening at U.S. airports have continued working without pay this month.
On Monday, more than 70 percent of employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration began unpaid leave, with around 1,400 staffers starting furloughs that day and only about 400 continuing to work. Although Energy Secretary Chris Wright stated that the U.S. nuclear stockpile will be secure, concerns persist about its national security implications.
Dean Baker, co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, told Xinhua that "There are two types of damage from the shutdown. One is people not being able to do things, the other is getting things done."
"The getting things done category is huge. This includes things like signing up for Social Security or Medicare or correcting mistakes on payments. That will involve millions of people. Also, people are not able to file for patents, federal permits for things like mining, and many other normal functions of government. That is likely to be the largest measurable economic toll," Baker said.
Gary Clyde Hufbauer, a nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told Xinhua that "In another two weeks, more economic data will be sorely missed, airports will be affected. Some construction projects will stop, the Internal Revenue Service will be slow to respond."
"My guess is that in another two weeks, political pressure will force a compromise," Hufbauer added.
Pough from the Defense Department urged Congress to do its job. "We elected those individuals to go do one job and do one job only and to maintain a functional government," he said.
"There's a lot of political infighting and just people not compromising. And it seems like they're using the American people as a pawn and just trying to get their point, but they're hurting their people," said Pough. ■