McKay 'Mad' About Possible Government Shutdown; Springfield Business Owner Waiting for Government to Make a Decision

It's the beginning of the work week and possibly the end (for awhile) for some federal employees. The past few weeks, the House Republicans have been going head-to-head with their Democratic counterparts over the vote to strip funding from Obamacare.

President Barack Obama has criticized Republicans for their attacks against his key healthcare law.

On Friday, the Senate passed a short-term plan that prevents government shutdown and sent it to the House for a weekend battle between Republican tea party conservatives and more moderate Republican party leaders. The House will have to decide whether they will pass the Senate's proposed plan by midnight.

In the meantime, Americans are left in limbo as the country's political leaders duke it out in Washington. Local business owners are already feeling the strain and employees are concerned. Because of the uncertainty surrounding a possible government shutdown, business owners and their employees are sitting and waiting for answers.

"It's crazy. Obviously, we're going through two kinds of things right now. We're going through end of the year closing and starting contracts. And now we have this uncertainty looming," said Staci Redmon, owner of Strategy and Management Services, Inc. (SAMS), a company based in Springfield that provides a broad range of strategy, management and information technology-related services to federal government agencies and commercial clients.

Without a compromise in Congress, Redmon and her company will be unable to move forward with any potential contracts with clients. Because of other financial constraints, including the sequestration issue earlier this year, Redmon said some of her employees may end up in a PTO situation and eventually temporarily laid off if the government shuts down Tuesday.

"My only prayer is those great employees will still be there when the government gets their act together," she said.

Lee District Supervisor Jeff McKay said Washington is playing political games that will affect others including those who work and reside in Fairfax County.

"It makes me really mad on so many levels that I can’t count them. We’ve got people playing political games with other people’s lives and that’s just wrong. And it’s another nail in the coffin of responsible government," he said in a statement on Friday. "I’m not sure how anyone can think it’s a good idea to make threats about the debt ceiling at a time when our economic recovery is still fragile. Here in Fairfax County we’re at economic ground zero because so much of our economy is still related to the federal government."

If the government shuts down, the D.C. metro area can see some significant changes including unanswered IRS phone calls and less traffic during rush hour. About 800,000 federal employees nationwide will be furloughed starting Tuesday if the House and Senate are unable to come to an agreement on the budget. 

The last government shutdown due to a budget impasse was from Dec. 15, 1995 to Jan. 6, 1996.