University of Wisconsin-Madison junior Reuben Sanon, a current affairs intern in Washington, D.C., for the semester, has been off work all week because of the government shutdown.
Sanon said his office has been deemed “unnecessary” for this week but will continue work again next week.
Still, he said the shutdown has negatively changed his mindset on working for the government in the future.
“All of the interns are being affected because we came here to make those connections and make something out of this semester,” Sanon said. “I honestly don’t want to work in government if it is just some big game of who has bigger balls or who can hold the government hostage for longer.”
Sanon also said the shutdown greatly affects the economy, as it is costing millions of dollars each day to remain in a state of shutdown. He added he is aware of many people working at the national monuments in D.C. currently off work and forced to start looking for second jobs.
He said the atmosphere in D.C. has been unusual, largely because most people in his office thought the government would “get their act together” in time.
“It’s kind of a nervous energy right now because people are still having a good time going out because they have faith that our government will come through,” Sanon said.
A general consensus in the UW-Madison community is that the shutdown’s shorter-term effects will not significantly impact campus, but there could be some longer-term effects if the shutdown lasts more than a couple months.
One shorter-term effect impacts research facilities on campus. Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Administration Kim Moreland said new research will be affected the most, as no one is available to review and approve proposals.
Additionally, projects in federal labs have been stopped, as well as projects requiring collaboration with someone in the federal government.
“The feds are going to be so overwhelmed when they come back, it’s going to be hard for them to turn around and get all this information back out, ” Moreland said.
