"U.S. Consulate in Europe Running Out of Toilet Paper"

[orangecrush]

"Diplomats are filing for unemployment benefits. Unpaid employees are working overtime to prepare a massive ambassadors’ conference. A U.S. consulate in Europe is running out of toilet paper.

The partial government shutdown—now set to be the longest shutdown in U.S. history—is fraying the seams of the State Department as a skeleton crew of demoralized and unpaid workers puts in long hours to cover the gaps left by furloughed colleagues.

Like other federal workers, State Department employees and contractors are bearing the brunt of the political impasse in Washington, centered on President Donald Trump’s fierce fight with Congress to partially fund the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Outside of national security priorities and work that protects U.S. citizens abroad, much of the day-to-day work of diplomacy has largely ground to a halt in Foggy Bottom and at U.S. diplomatic outposts around the world.

Around 42 percent of State Department employees in the United States and 26 percent of U.S. employees posted abroad have been furloughed, according to data from the State Department. (According to the department, most locally employed staff overseas aren’t subject to furlough due to local labor laws preventing unpaid work.) Meanwhile, Pompeo, on a multicountry tour of the Middle East, is being shepherded around by dozens of diplomats and staff who are working without a paycheck."

https://www.google.com/amp/s/foreignpolicy.com/2019/01/11/government-shut-down-state-department-pompeo-trump-border-wall-diplomacy-chief-of-mission-ambassador-conference/amp/


Trump is to blame for this shitty situation.