WASHINGTON — Three weeks into a full federal government shutdown, officials expressed growing alarm Wednesday after polling revealed that the vast majority of Americans had not noticed it was happening.
"We closed everything. We put up signs," said one visibly shaken agency director. "And yet people just kept going to work, raising their kids and mowing their lawns like nothing happened. Frankly, it's very hurtful."
According to the survey, 87% of respondents were unaware of the shutdown, 9% believed it had ended in 2019, and 4% said they had noticed but "assumed things were finally being run efficiently."
Lawmakers have since rushed to warn the public of the shutdown's devastating effects. "Right now, as we speak, there are dozens of reports not being printed," said one senator at an emergency press conference. "Committees are not forming subcommittees. Somewhere, a form is going unstamped."
Some agencies have tried to make the shutdown more visible, including one that hired contractors to stand outside national parks and tell visitors the parks were closed, at a cost of $4 million a week.
With public concern failing to materialize, congressional leaders say they are now working around the clock on a deal to reopen the government "as quickly as possible, before people get used to this."