People cross Pennsylvania Avenue near the US Capitol at dawn on October 1, 2025, the first day of the government shutdown. Al Drago/Getty Images/File

Knowing he’d have a hard time feeding his family of seven once his paychecks stopped coming, one Department of Veterans Affairs worker asked his local supermarket if it could cut him some slack on his grocery tab until the federal government reopens . The customer service staffer asked if he was kidding.

That day has arrived. The paycheck the worker receives Friday will be several hundred dollars lighter than usual, and it will be the last one he receives until a fractured Congress agrees on a spending package for the current fiscal year.

So the worker, who like all those CNN interviewed requested anonymity to protect their jobs, had n

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