There are approximately 64,500 civilian federal employees in San Diego and 369,600 federal defense workers, including 111,000 active duty servicemembers throughout San Diego County whose livelihoods are being directly hurt by the shutdown. Veterans are also burdened by the shutdown because the VA is not able to offer various services and programs such as career counseling, public affairs and outreach, and the GI Bill Hotline.

San Diegans in need of federal assistance are affected because congressional liaisons at many federal agencies have been furloughed. As a result, they are unable to accept new casework inquiries or update previous inquiries at the Office of Personnel Management, the Department of the Navy, the VA’s Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs (OCLA), and the Department of Education. And just a few more ways this shutdown is inflicting consequences on San Diegans:

• The AFGE Local 1260 Chief Steward who represents the roughly 600 San Diego TSA workers told KPBS they feel like pawns in this shutdown. 
• Federal funding to support school nutrition programs and Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) are also at risk of delay if the government remains shutdown.
• California has 4.3 million small businesses with 7.6 million employees who may not be able to access millions of dollars in loan funding due to severely reduced staff at the Small Business Administration. 

I'm also hearing from servicemembers who feel frustrated that they are understaffed and must work overtime, without pay, while the President and Congress continue to be paid.