Government shutdown ripple effect begins with formal layoffs

Government shutdown leading to workers furloughed, formal layoffs

Paychecks are already being delayed or reduced and agencies from the IRS to the EPA have paused most operations.

FOX 2 - The government shutdown is stretching into the weekend and federal employees across the country are feeling the impact.

The backstory:

Thousands of civilian workers are furloughed without pay while others in essential roles like Border Patrol, air traffic control and the military are working without paychecks.

The Office of Management and Budget confirmed that the administration has begun formal layoffs, a step beyond typical furloughs.

This has raised concern among federal unions who say the move may violate labor and budget laws.

Paychecks are already being delayed or reduced and agencies from the IRS to the EPA have paused most operations.

Agencies are seeing layoffs including the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

National Parks are closed or running with skeleton crews and contractors are uncertain whether they will be reimbursed.

Jason Anderson is the American Federation of Government Employees national vice president covering Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Hilary Golston, FOX 2: "The projection was that some 750,000 federal workers would eventually be furloughed. Do you know what the toll is today?"

"It's kind of all over the place," he said. "Because what we're seeing from years past in our shutdowns, there's a very defined, who is essential and who is not. So things are changing.

"There's also some rollover, there is also some provisional budget."

The budget office estimates we might be losing $400 million every single day and the estimate is 750,000 workers. It could be as many as 900,000.

Financial institutions are bracing for ripple effects as unpaid workers turn to credit or emergency loans.

Negotiations remain stalled in Congress over funding levels, leaving millions of government employees and their families unsure when work and pay will come back.