The SideshowAnybody know how to send a fax? Shutdown mixes things up at White House
President Barack Obama wasn't furloughed when the government shut down, but that doesn't mean he and everyone else in the White House weren't affected.
The New York Times explains, with humorous detail, just how the partial shutdown has changed things at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Hundreds of people work on all sorts of things, but with the shutdown sending all "nonessential" workers on an unpaid vacation, those deemed essential enough to stay are having to figure out some new job responsibilities.
The New York Times writes that junior staff members who were furloughed had to explain to the more senior staff members how to do relatively basic tasks, including writing news releases, scheduling meetings and navigating visitors through security gates outside the Oval Office. Trash in the West Wing is now being picked up once per day instead of twice.
Other areas of the White House to see a sudden change include the cafeteria, which is now operating on a "limited menu" (say goodbye to the soup of the day, according to the Times).
Politico wrote its own feature on how the shutdown is altering things at the White House. For example, place a call to White House press secretary Jay Carney and guess who might actually pick up the phone? Jay Carney.
Via Politico:
Carney, deprived of his assistant, has to answer all the calls coming into his office. “With great care,” he adds.
Meanwhile, government workers who were furloughed are urging Congress to figure something out. In the 1995-96 government shutdown, Congress authorized back pay for those who were affected. That might happen again. The House plans to vote Saturday on a bill that would make sure furloughed federal workers get retroactive pay.
