A civil servant for 20-plus years, Mark has been through US government shutdowns before: Congress deadlocks on spending and many federal workers are temporarily forced into unpaid leave.

But the current shutdown will be Mark's last -- he's decided to leave his government job.

Mark, who declined to give his last name, said this shutdown is different, describing a Trump administration effort "to vilify and diminish the characteristics of federal employees, to make them appear as if they are unworthy of federal service, and that's unlike any of my experience as a federal employee."

The latest shutdown comes after Elon Musk, then an ally of President Donald Trump, earlier this year took an ax to the federal workforce, firing tens of thousands of staffers with a mandate from the White House.

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