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For Daniel Scharpenburg and thousands of his colleagues at the Internal Revenue Service, the hardest part of the prolonged federal government shutdown isnt just the missing paycheck. Its not knowing when their lives - and their work - will start again.

All week, and all last week, like people have been just panicking, Scharpenburg said. When I was leaving [last week], I saw people crying because they just they dont know whats going to happen. And the uncertainty is the hardest part.

In Kansas City, more than 34,000 employees work for the federal government.

Already, many are feeling the ripple effects: unpaid rent, mounting bills, and growing anxiety over whether theyll be paid once the impasse in Washington ends.

Scharpenburg, a longtime IRS employee

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