“It feels terrible.” Federal worker’s family tightens their belts as shutdown drags on

Stephanie Rogers at her mother's home outside Denver, where she and her two young daughters now live. Rogers has dipped into her retirement to help the family get through the federal shutdown.

Tegan Wendland

Rogers has been a microbiologist with the Food and Drug Administration for 16 years and is now among hundreds of thousands of federal employees not working. She is also a chapter president with the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU).