“There’s so much chaos and confusion,” said Kyla Bennett, who speaks regularly with employees of the federal Environmental Protection Agency in her role as director of science policy for nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
Many EPA employees have continued to work through the shutdown, thanks to carryover funds the agency had on hand. But because much of their work requires collaboration with other parts of the agency that are at risk of shutting down, it’s nearly impossible to get anything done right now, Bennett said.
“If you don’t know what’s going to happen to those other people, if you don’t know if they’re going to be there tomorrow … is it worth even going down that road?” she said.