The National Institutes of Health began turning away patients for experimental treatment, and rugged Yellowstone National Park was closed to visitors as the vast machinery of government clanged into partial shutdown mode Tuesday.
President Barack Obama warned that more families and businesses would be hurt if it lasted much longer, while Republicans insisted the fault was not theirs but Obama’s and his fellow Democrats’.
“What we are doing now puts American lives at risk,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., warning Tuesday of the effects on intelligence agencies of a government closure that some lawmakers said could last for weeks.
At the White House, Obama unleashed a blistering attack on Republicans, accusing them of causing government’s first partial closure in 17 years as part of a failed, non-stop “ideological crusade” to wipe out his signature health care law.
Republicans countered that Democrats were to blame for refusing to negotiate on Obama’s health care overhaul, and they disclosed plans in the House for quick passage of measures aimed at reopening small slices of the federal establishment. The bills covered the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Park Service and a portion of the Washington, D.C., government funded with local tax revenue.
Many federal offices in Wisconsin closed Tuesday as part of the shutdown. A few examples of programs and services that have been affected:
• U.S. Department of Agriculture service centers, including the Shawano office at 603 Lakeland Road, were closed Tuesday, with employees of the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service and Rural Development furloughed. Callers to the office are currently greeted with a recording informing them they can leave a message and adding that, “we look forward to returning your message once funding has been restored.”
• The Wisconsin National Guard has furloughed 840 non-essential technicians, but spokesman Maj. Paul Rickert says 210 employees who work in fire and rescue, protective service and key maintenance jobs are exempt from the shutdown.
• About 900 civilian employees at Fort McCoy, a sprawling training installation between Sparta and Tomah, have been furloughed. However, spokeswoman Linda Fournier says the fort’s annual deer hunt for disabled people will take place this weekend because it is being run by contractors and training for a South Dakota Army National Guard unit that just arrived will go on as scheduled. The fort’s campground is open.
• The Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest and Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in northern Wisconsin have closed, along with all national parks.
• U.S. Geological Survey equipment that keeps tabs on water flow and levels in Wisconsin rivers and streams is operating, but other data collection handled by the USGS Water Science Center in Middleton has stopped. This includes samples taken to monitor water quality.
In Washington, some Republicans conceded privately they might bear the brunt of public anger over the shutdown and seemed resigned to an eventual surrender in their latest struggle with Obama.
The majority of House Republicans, though, want a one-year-delay in the requirement for individuals to purchase insurance, and they want a separate provision that would dramatically raise the cost of health care for the president, vice president, members of Congress and aides.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, the most prominent advocate of the “Defund Obamacare” movement, said the Senate should follow the House’s lead and quickly reopen programs for veterans and the parks. Asked why it was appropriate to do so without demanding changes in the health care law, he offered no answer.
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