{"id":24015,"date":"2025-10-26T10:22:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T10:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/24015\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T10:22:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T10:22:08","slug":"for-california-delegation-and-its-staffers-heres-what-shutdown-life-looks-like","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/24015\/","title":{"rendered":"For California delegation and its staffers, here’s what shutdown life looks like"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Twenty-two days into the government shutdown, California Rep. Kevin Kiley spent an hour of his morning in Washington guiding a group of middle school students from Grass Valley through the empty corridors of the U.S. Capitol.<\/p>\n

Normally, one of his staff members would have led the tour. But the Capitol is closed to all tours during the shutdown, unless the elected member is present. So the schoolchildren from Lyman Gilmore Middle School ended up with Kiley, a Republican from Rocklin, as their personal tour guide.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would have visited with these kids anyway,\u201d Kiley said in his office after the event. \u201cBut I actually got to go on the whole tour of the Capitol with them as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kiley\u2019s impromptu tour is an example of how members of California\u2019s congressional delegation are improvising their routines as the shutdown drags on and most of Washington remains at a standstill. <\/p>\n

Some are in Washington in case negotiations resume, others are back at home in their districts meeting with federal workers who are furloughed or working without pay, giving interviews or visiting community health centers that rely on tax credits central to the budget negotiations. One member attended the groundbreaking of a flood control project in their district. Others are traveling back and forth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had to fly back to Washington for caucus meetings, while the opposition, the Republicans, don\u2019t even convene and meet,\u201d Rep. Maxine Waters, a longtime Los Angeles Democrat, said in an interview. \u201cWe will meet anytime, anyplace, anywhere, with [House Speaker Mike] Johnson, with the president, with the Senate, to do everything that we can to open up the government. We are absolutely unified on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The shutdown is being felt across California, which has the most federal workers<\/a> outside the District of Columbia. Food assistance benefits for millions of low-income Californians could soon be delayed.<\/a> And millions of Californians could see their healthcare premiums rise sharply if Affordable Care Act subsidies are allowed to expire.<\/p>\n

For the California delegation, the fallout at home has become impossible to ignore. Yet the shutdown is in its fourth week with no end in sight.<\/p>\n

In the House, Johnson has refused to call members back into session and prevented them from doing legislative work. Many California lawmakers \u2014 including Kiley, one of the few GOP lawmakers to openly criticize him \u2014 have been dismayed by the deadlock.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have certainly emphasized the point that the House needs to be in session, and that canceling a month\u2019s worth of session is not a good thing for the House or the country,\u201d Kiley said, noting that he had privately met with Johnson.<\/p>\n

Kiley, who represented parts of the Sacramento suburbs and Lake Tahoe, is facing political uncertainty as California voters weigh whether to approve Proposition 50 on Nov. 4. The measure would redraw the state\u2019s congressional districts to better favor Democrats, leaving Kiley at risk, even though the Republican says he believes he could still win if his right-leaning district is redrawn.<\/p>\n

The Senate has been more active, holding a series of votes on the floor and congressional hearings with Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi<\/a> and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. The chamber, however, has been unable to reach a deal to reopen the government. On Thursday, the 23rd day of the shutdown, the Senate failed to advance competing measures that would have paid federal employees who have been working without compensation.<\/p>\n

The Republicans\u2019 plan would have paid active-duty members of the military and some federal workers during the shutdown. Democrats backed a bill that would have paid all federal workers and barred the Trump administration from laying off any more federal employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornia has one of the largest federal workforces in the country, and no federal worker or service member should miss their paychecks because Donald Trump and Republicans refused to come to the table to protect Americans\u2019 health care,\u201d Sen. Alex Padilla said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Working conditions get harder<\/p>\n

The strain on federal employees \u2014 including those who work for California\u2019s 54 delegation members \u2014 are starting to become more apparent.<\/p>\n

Dozens of them have been working full time without pay. Their jobs include answering phone calls and requests from constituents, setting the schedules for elected officials, writing policy memos and handling messaging for their offices.<\/p>\n

\"House <\/p>\n

House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks about the shutdown at a news conference Thursday with other Republican House members.<\/p>\n

(Eric Lee \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

At the end of October, House staffers \u2014 who are paid on a monthly basis \u2014 are expected to miss their first paycheck.<\/p>\n

Some have been quietly told to consider borrowing money from the U.S. Senate Federal Credit Union, which is offering a \u201cgovernment shutdown relief loan program\u201d<\/a> that includes a no-interest loan of up to $5,000 to be repaid in full after 90 days. <\/p>\n

The mundane has also been disrupted. Some of the cafeterias and coffee carts that are usually open to staffers are closed. The lines to enter office buildings are long because fewer entrances are open.<\/p>\n

The hallways leading to the offices of California\u2019s elected officials are quiet, except for the faint sound of occasional elevator dings. Many of their doors are adorned with signs that show who they blame for the government shutdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump and Republicans shut down the government,\u201d reads a sign posted on the door that leads into Rep. Norma Torres\u2019 (D-Pomona) office. \u201cOur office is OPEN \u2014 WORKING for the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Ted Lieu, a Democrat from Torrance, posted a similar sign outside his office.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A sign is posted outside of the office of Rep. Ted Lieu, a California Democrat, in Washington on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

(Ana Ceballos \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Rep. Vince Fong, a Republican who represents the Central Valley, has been traveling between Washington and his district. Two weeks into the shutdown, he met with veterans from the Central Valley Honor Flight and Kern County Honor Flight to make sure that their planned tour of the Capitol was not disrupted by the shutdown. Like Kiley\u2019s tour with the schoolchildren, an elected member needed to be present for the tour to go on.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis presence ensured the tour could continue as planned,\u201d Fong\u2019s office said. <\/p>\n

During the tour, veterans were able to see Johnson as well, his office said.<\/p>\n

Shutdown highlights deep divisions<\/p>\n

California\u2019s congressional delegation mirrors the broader stalemate in Washington, where entrenched positions have kept both parties at a negotiation impasse.<\/p>\n

Democrats are steadfast in their position that they will not agree to a deal unless Republicans extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits expiring at the end of the year, while Republicans are accusing Democrats of failing to reopen the government for political gain.<\/p>\n

Kiley is one of the few Republicans who has called on Johnson to negotiate with Democrats on healthcare. Kiley said he thinks there is a \u201ca lot of room to negotiate\u201d because there is concern on both sides of the aisle if the tax credits expire.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf people see a massive increase in their premiums … that\u2019s not a good thing,\u201d he said. \u201cEspecially in California, where the cost of living is already so high, and you\u2019re suddenly having to pay a lot more for healthcare.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Robert Garcia, the chair of the House Democratic Caucus, in a press event Wednesday with five other California Democrats talked about the need to fight for the healthcare credits.<\/p>\n

Garcia, of Long Beach, said he recently visited a healthcare center in San Bernardino County that serves seniors with disabilities. He said the cuts would be \u201cdevastating\u201d and would prompt the center to close.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why we are doing everything in our power to negotiate a deal that reopens the federal government and saves healthcare,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As the shutdown continues, many Democrats are digging their heels on the issue.<\/p>\n

At an Oct. 3 event outside of Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, for instance, Rep. Laura Friedman held a news conference with nurses and hospital staff and said she would not vote for a bill to reopen the government unless there is a deal on healthcare. <\/p>\n

Last week, the Glendale Democrat said her position hasn\u2019t changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will not support a shutdown deal that strips healthcare from tens of thousands of my constituents,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Twenty-two days into the government shutdown, California Rep. Kevin Kiley spent an hour of his morning in Washington…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24016,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,18651,9,8,6709,1751,4579,18653,638,1902,18654,18650,2324,346,1748,2694,18652,558],"class_list":["post-24015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-delegation","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-deal","tag-democrats","tag-district","tag-federal-worker","tag-government-shutdown","tag-healthcare","tag-johnson","tag-kiley","tag-member","tag-office","tag-republicans","tag-session","tag-tour","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}