With Scant Information, Federal Workers Brace for Possible Shutdown
信息匮乏之下，美国联邦雇员准备迎接可能的停摆
Even before most federal agencies had shared their plans for a possible government shutdown this week, the White House delivered a message that resonated across the bureaucracy: a funding lapse could be used as an opportunity for even more layoffs. With days left before the government runs out of money at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, federal workers were grappling with a deepening sense of uncertainty about the ramifications if congressional leaders cannot come to an agreement over the budget.
在大多数联邦机构尚未公布其本周可能的政府停摆应对计划之前，白宫就传达了一条震动整个官僚体系的信息：资金中断可能会作为进一步裁员的契机。距离政府将在周三凌晨12:01资金断裂只剩几天，联邦雇员正陷入越来越深的不确定感之中，他们担心一旦国会领导人未能就预算达成协议所带来的后果。
Agencies have been slow to to post their contingency plans for how they would operate. And the threat issued by the White House that the administration would use a shutdown to fire more workers has fueled even more anxiety across the federal work force, already stretched thin by the administration’s mass terminations and cuts. Around 300,000 employees are set to be off the payroll by the end of the year. The federal workers who remain are now facing the prospect of going without pay for an indefinite period — or possibly even losing their jobs.
联邦各机构在发布应急预案方面行动迟缓。而白宫发出的威胁——政府可能借停摆之机解雇更多人员——则加剧了整个联邦体系的焦虑。本届政府此前已进行过大规模的解雇和裁员，使得人手本来就很紧张。预计到今年年底，将有约30万名雇员失去工作。留下来的联邦雇员如今不得不面对无限期零薪的前景，甚至可能丢掉饭碗。
Shutdowns are always bad for the country, causing disruption in government services and testing economic stability, said Michael Linden, a senior policy fellow at the Washington Center for Equitable Health, a liberal think tank focused on inequality. But this one could be even worse than in the past, he warned, including the longest government shutdown to date, which occurred during the first Trump administration.
华盛顿公平健康研究中心高级政策研究员迈克尔·林登说：“政府停摆对国家总是有害的，它会扰乱政府服务，考验经济稳定性。”该中心是一家专注于研究不平等问题的自由派智库。但林登警告，此次政府停摆可能比以往更糟，甚至会超过迄今为止最长的一次政府停摆，那次停摆发生在特朗普政府的第一个任期内。
