KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Frustration is mounting among employees at the Internal Revenue Service in Kansas City, twenty-two hours into the federal government shutdown.

Workers say they are being treated like "pawns" in a political standoff that has left them facing days, or potentially weeks, without a paycheck.

Shannon Ellis, a 23-year IRS veteran and president of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), voiced the sentiment shared by many of her colleagues.

"Employees are angry because we're used as pawns in political games, and that's unacceptable," she said.

For now, the IRS is shielded from immediate closures thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, which granted the agency supplemental funding that allows operations to continue. However, that's for five business days.

Daniel Schar

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