Dover Air Force Base officials say the partial government shutdown shutting doors in D.C. is being felt in Delaware too.
More than half of the base’s one thousand civilian workers were furloughed as of noon Tuesday. The base library is closed and the commissary will lock up at seven o’clock Tuesday night. Base education and personnel services will also be halted.
Those and other services will remain closed until Congress resolves a budget impasse revolving around efforts to defund or delay Obamacare.
But Base Commander Colonel Rick Moore says essential operations continue.
"Today's goal was to make sure that we didn't violate any law or policy and that we kept the right folks to be able to accomplish our war time mission, but that we didn't keep anybody that didn't exactly meet the guidance that we got from the Office of the Secretary of Defense," said Col. Moore
Col. Moore noted this latest budget battle is another blow to his non-military personnel, who shouldered six furlough days earlier this year due to sequestration cuts.
“The uncertainty behind all of that is very troubling for the civilian workforce. Many of them are long time, faithful government servants and, quite frankly, we’ve broken faith with them,” said Col. Moore.
Moore adds he hopes this impasse will soon come to an end.
“When that happens, it would be very helpful for us to have a budget," said Col. Moore. "The continuing resolution authority that we’ve operated under for the last several years makes it difficult for us to establish a financial baseline.”
The continuing resolution funding levels reflect sequestration budget cuts set earlier this year, which Moore says could lead to further furloughs and possible layoffs if they aren’t increased soon.