Yesterday, Jan. 21, the U.S. government officially shut down five years after the last shutdown that lasted 16 days in Oct. 2013. While millions of “non essential” federal employees are subject to a mandatory discharge as Washington approaches the second day of a government shutdown, most members of the U.S. military and government-issued programs will be operating under usual conditions, but will not be paid until lawmakers agree on government spending. Many RBHS students are unhappy with this; some are even affected personally.
 

“I don’t think they should be getting laid off because they help us out, but at the same time, we should lay all of them off but just a small amount.” —Whitney Mitchell-Green, junior

“No it’s not fair that Congress gets paid, because they’re not the only people that are working for the government. There’s like a million people working for the government all over, and they should be paid, too.” —Lexi Piecko, sophomore

“That doesn’t make any sense to me. I didn’t know about this ahead of time, but based on what you just told me, no I don’t agree with that.” —Isaac Parrish, junior

“No because they are fighting for our country and they didn’t cause the shutdown, but they’re still not getting paid because of it.” —Ella Maddox, freshman
Elinor “Because of the government shutdown my dad can’t go to work. He works for the USDA down by the nuclear power plant, and he can’t go to work he has to sit and is not legally allowed to go to the office.” —Elinor Stanley, senior