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It’s Tuesday, the traditional day for elections and for our pause-and-consider newsletter on politics and policy. We think of it as a mini-magazine in your inbox.

SHUTDOWN STAKES
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews ([link removed])
Correspondent

With just four days until a potential government shutdown, let’s lay out this particular iteration of Congress’ fiscal game of chicken.

The basics
* The deadline to fund the U.S. government is Friday, March 14, at 11:59 p.m. ([link removed])
* House Republicans propose a stopgap measure that would fund the government until the next fiscal year begins in October.
* Their measure would increase defense spending by about $6 billion.
* And it would cut non-defense spending by a larger amount — $13 billion.
* It would increase funding for two very different programs. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) gets a boost, which it can use for deportation and detention. And there’s a more than $500 million increase for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women and Children, or WIC.

The voting dynamics
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The House is expected to vote Tuesday on a stopgap measure to fund the government through September. Watch in the player above.
* This is a tricky series of votes for both parties.
* A number of House Republicans have issues with this bill. They do not like that it mainly continues current funding and does not actually direct significant change.
* Others are concerned because it does not seem to reflect a 2.8 percent cut in fees ([link removed]) to Medicare doctors that went into effect in January.
* Democrats largely oppose the bill because it does not protect federal workers or block Trump, Elon Musk or the Department of Government Efficiency from their work to cut federal programs and funding.
* Trump is involved as never before, pushing hard for this stopgap measure, including this praise for the Freedom Caucus ([link removed]) , which got on board, and this threat to Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky ([link removed]) ., who is a “no.”

What next?
* If this bill makes it through the House, then it needs at least seven Democrats or independents to get it over the 60-vote threshold in the chamber.
* That is also not a given. But Democrats have not organized successfully against this in that chamber.

The bottom line
* Republicans run Congress and the White House.
* But even so, basic functions of government are still difficult.
* This is a test of Trump and Republicans’ ability to deal with a narrow House margin and their jobs.

More on politics from our coverage:
* Watch: GOP leadership tries to rally House votes ([link removed]) for a bill to avoid government shutdown.
* One Big Question: How would Americans view a possible shutdown? NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter discuss. ([link removed])
* A Closer Look: What science tells us about transgender athletes. ([link removed])
* Perspectives: An epidemiologist on what’s behind the growing measles outbreak and how the Trump administration is responding. ([link removed])

FEDERAL WORKERS GRAPPLE WITH LAYOFFS
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The American Federation of Government Employees held a town hall in St. Louis last week in response to the Trump administration’s sweeping cuts to the federal workforce. Photo by Gabrielle Hays/PBS News
Francesca Wise woke up on Feb. 13, opened her email, and learned that she was no longer a federal contractor for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The notice said she was being let go because was considered a probationary employee, or someone in their position for less than a year, but what struck her was the fact that the notice also cited her work performance.

“I didn't even have a work performance appraisal in my file because I was still going through training. So how can you say I'm being let go for my performance? We don't even have a review on my performance,” Wise said.

Tens of thousands of federal workers have been fired since President Donald Trump took office, with more cuts planned. ([link removed]) Thousands of these workers were probationary employees like Francesca. At the USDA, an independent federal board has ordered the government to reinstate close to 6,000 probationary workers as it investigates whether the firings were legal.

According to the order ([link removed]) , the board asserted that it had reasonable grounds to believe “the agency engaged in prohibited personnel practices.”

At the end of 2024, more than 56,000 people in Missouri worked for the federal government ([link removed]) , according to state records.

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Francesca Wise received an email that said she no longer had a job at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Photo by Gabrielle Hays/PBS News

Weeks later, Wise is left trying to figure out what comes next, and how to explain what’s happening to her children.

“I haven't been without a job in 15 years,” the mother of three said. “For someone to send me an email to say that my services are not needed … for my work performance. I'm like … how am I going to take care of our children? How am I going to pay the bills?”

Wise and others took to the street Mar. 8 to rally in support of federal workers who had been laid off and those who feared it could happen to them. The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 800,000 employees of the federal government, led the rally.

Federal workers at the rally told PBS News that the mass firings and layoffs had caused panic among them and that the country needed to keep the promises it had made, specifically to support veterans.
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Daniel Simon, who served in the Army Reserve for more than two decades, speaks at the AFGE town hall on March 8. Photo by Gabrielle Hays/PBS News
Daniel Simon served in the Army Reserve for 22 years. He’s now a nurse at a government facility and a local member of AFGE. He attended the rally because he felt energized to stand up against the mass firings.

“Not only am I a veteran and a federal worker, but I'm also a father and working families are being hurt by the decisions made by billionaires in Washington, D.C. And I'm here to say it needs to stop,” he said.

The Department of Government Efficiency, an initiative led by Trump adviser and billionaire Elon Musk, has directed the firings of as many as 6,000 veterans ([link removed]) in recent weeks, according to the Washington Post. When asked about the cuts, Alina Habba, a counselor to Trump, told reporters veterans who were fired "perhaps" are "not fit to have a job at this moment or are not willing to come to work."

For Simon, who gave more than two decades of his life to the military, this struck a nerve.

“The government made a promise to veterans. When they signed up, they made a promise that no matter what happens to us, they are going to take care of us. And that's the deal,” he said. “That's why people sign up. Because they know our country is not going to let us down. And right now, it seems like the people in charge are letting us down,” he said.
More on federal workers from our coverage:
* A Quick Guide: 5 facts about the federal workforce that may surprise you. ([link removed])
* A Closer Look: The scientific impact of Trump’s cuts to NOAA ([link removed]) and the National Weather Service.
* Perspectives: Save the Children official says Trump’s ‘disorderly’ aid cuts are devastating its work. ([link removed])

THIS WEEK’S TRIVIA QUESTION
By Matt Loffman
Senior Producer, Elections

The Republican-controlled Congress is working to pass a continuing resolution, or a stopgap measure, to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year in September.

This would mean the entire year is covered by a CR. A “year-long” or “full-year” CR, which was enacted to cover most of the regular appropriations acts, has happened only three times in the 21st century ([link removed]) , according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Our question: When was the last time U.S. spending was funded by a CR for an entire fiscal year?

Send your answers to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) or tweet using #PoliticsTrivia. The first correct answers will earn a shout-out next week.

Last week, we asked: Which U.S. president was the first to attach the word “is” to the “State of the Union,” creating a hallmark turn of phrase?

The answer: Gerald Ford. ([link removed]) As Lisa Desjardins has reported, Ford was the first to attach the word “is” to the “State of the Union” to craft the now often-repeated phrase favored by presidents in speeches. In 1975, he told Congress that “the state of the union is not good.” ([link removed])

Congratulations to our winners: Elinor Fillion and Jim Brydon!

Thank you all for reading and watching. We’ll drop into your inbox next week.
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