For California delegation and its staffers, here’s what shutdown life looks like

WASHINGTON— Twenty-two days after the government shutdown, California Rep. Kevin Kiley spent an hour of his morning guiding a group of middle school students from Grass Valley, Washington, through the empty halls of the U.S. Capitol.

Normally, one of his team would lead the tour. However, the Capitol is closed to all tours during the shutdown unless the elected member is present. So students at Lyman Gilmore Middle School chose Kiley, a Republican from Rocklin, as their personal tour guide.

“I would visit these kids anyway,” Kiley said in his office after the event. “But I actually got to go on the full tour of the Capitol with them, too.”

Kiley’s impromptu tour is an example of how members of California’s congressional delegation are improvising their routines as the shutdown drags on and much of Washington remains dormant.

Some are in Washington if negotiations continue, while others are at home in their districts, meeting with furloughed or unpaid federal workers, giving interviews or visiting community health centers that rely on tax credits at the center of budget negotiations. One of our members attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the flood control project in their district. Others travel back and forth.

“I had to fly to Washington for caucuses, while opposition Republicans don’t even meet and meet,” Rep. Maxine Waters, a longtime Los Angeles Democrat, said in an interview. “We will meet anytime, anywhere, anywhere” [House Speaker Mike] We will do everything we can, together with the president and the Senate, to open the government,” Johnson said. “We are absolutely united on this issue.”

Shutdown felt across California most federal workers Outside of the District of Columbia. Food assistance benefits available to millions of low-income Californians will be postponed soon. And if Affordable Care Act subsidies are allowed to expire, we could see health premiums rise sharply for millions of Californians.

For the California delegation, the negative impacts at home became impossible to ignore. But the shutdown is in its fourth week and there is no end in sight.

In the House of Representatives, Johnson refused to call members back into session and prevented them from legislative work. Many California lawmakers were dismayed by the deadlock, including Kiley, one of the few GOP lawmakers to openly criticize him.

Kiley, who noted that he met privately with Johnson, said, “I definitely emphasized that the Parliament should be in session and canceling the one-month session is not a good thing for the Parliament or the country.”

Kiley, who represents parts of the Sacramento suburbs and Lake Tahoe, faces political uncertainty as California voters weigh whether to approve Proposition 50 on Nov. 4. The measure would redraw the state’s congressional districts to favor Democrats and put Kiley at risk, even though the Republican has said he still believes he could win if his right-leaning district is redrawn.

The Senate was more active; conducted a series of votes and Atty. He held congress sessions with. General Pam Bondi and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. However, the chamber could not reach an agreement to reopen the government. On Thursday, the 23rd day of the shutdown, the Senate failed to advance competing measures that would pay federal workers working without compensation.

The Republicans’ plan called for paying active-duty members of the military and some federal employees during the shutdown. Democrats backed a bill that would pay all federal employees and prohibit the Trump administration from firing any more federal workers.

“California has one of the largest federal workforces in the country, and no federal worker or service member should miss a paycheck because Donald Trump and Republicans refuse to come to the table to protect Americans’ health care,” Senator Alex Padilla said in a statement.

Working conditions are getting harder

The pressure on federal employees, including those who work for California’s 54 delegation members, is starting to become more apparent.

Dozens of them work full-time, unpaid. Their duties include responding to phone calls and requests from constituents, arranging schedules for elected officials, writing policy memos, and managing messaging for their offices.

At the end of October, monthly-paid House employees are expected to miss their first paycheck.

Some were quietly told to consider borrowing from the U.S. Senate Federal Credit Union. “government shutdown relief loan program” This includes an interest-free loan of up to $5,000, repayable in full after 90 days.

Ordinariness has also been disrupted. Some of the cafeterias and coffee carts that are usually open to staff are closed. The lines to enter office buildings are long because the entrances are less open.

The corridors leading to the offices of California’s elected officials are quiet except for the occasional faint elevator noise. Many of their doors are adorned with signs indicating who they blame for the government shutdown.

“Trump and Republicans have shut down the government,” reads the door to Rep. Norma Torres’ (D-Pomona) office. “Our office is OPEN – WORKING for the American people.”

Rep. Ted Lieu, a Democrat from Torrance, also hung a similar sign outside his office.

A sign hung outside California Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu’s office in Washington on Wednesday.

(Ana Ceballos / Los Angeles Times)

Republican Rep. Vince Fong, who represents the Central Valley, is traveling between Washington and his district. Two weeks after the closure, he met with veterans of the Central Valley Honor Flight and Kern County Honor Flight to make sure their planned tour of the Capitol would not be interrupted by the closure. As with Kiley’s tour with school children, an elected member had to be present before the tour could proceed.

“His presence ensured that the tour could continue as planned,” Fong’s office said.

Veterans were also able to see Johnson during the tour, his office said.

Lockdown highlights deep divisions

California’s congressional delegation reflects the broader stalemate in Washington, where entrenched positions keep both sides at a negotiating stalemate.

Democrats are adamant they won’t accept a deal unless Republicans extend Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire at the end of the year; Republicans accuse Democrats of not reopening the government for political gain.

Kiley is one of several Republicans who have called on Johnson to negotiate with Democrats on health care. Kiley said he thinks there’s “a lot of room to negotiate” as there are concerns on both sides of the aisle if the tax credits expire.

“If people see a big increase in their premiums, that’s not a good thing,” he said. “Especially in California, where the cost of living is already so high, and suddenly you have to pay a lot more for health care.”

Rep. Robert Garcia, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, spoke about the need to fight for health credits at a news conference Wednesday with five other California Democrats.

Garcia, of Long Beach, said he recently visited a health center in San Bernardino County that serves disabled seniors. He said the cuts would be “devastating” and lead to the closure of the centre.

“That’s why we’re doing everything we can to negotiate a deal that will reopen the federal government and save health care,” he said.

As the shutdown continues, many Democrats are weighing in on the issue.

For example, at an event outside Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center on October 3, Rep. Laura Friedman held a press conference with nurses and hospital staff and said she would not vote for a bill to reopen the government unless there was an agreement on health care.

Last week, the Glendale Democrat said his position had not changed.

“I will not support a shutdown agreement that takes away health care from tens of thousands of my constituents,” he said.