The deal spares federal workers before Christmas, but there are concerns about possible job cuts under Trump

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) – Johnny Zuagar said he tried to hide his concerns about one potential government shutdown from his three boys as he weighed how much to spend on Christmas presents.

“I have to keep a poker face,” said Zuagar, a statistician with the US Census Bureau, as he thought of his boys, ages 14, 12 and 6. “You’re just trying to take that worry away from your family. .”

Like thousands of federal workers, Zuagar had navigated the holiday with the spirit of the season overtaken by an air of gloom and uncertainty.

The effort in Congress to reach an agreement on keeping the government open had cast a cloud over the holidays for many federal workers who face the prospect of furloughs in the days leading up to Christmas. But Congress passed a three-month spending bill early Saturday, just after the midnight deadline, and President Joe Biden signed it into law hours later. There was no shutdown.

Many federal workers were already worried about the possibility of future workforce reductions under the incoming Trump administration.

Zuagar, who is president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 2782, which represents federal workers at the Census, has seen shutdowns before.

This time came the uncertainty that Trump and his allies have promised sweeping cut in the federal workforce.

“We really don’t know anymore,” Zuagar said during a phone interview Friday. “Again, the rhetoric out there is that federal employees are the problem.”

The contention of the current debate has left him wondering, “Are we the scapegoat for every ill and grievance in America?”

He said federal workers are also worried about what will happen after Trump takes office.

“They’re afraid of what’s to come, like this is the beginning of something, or they don’t care about us,” Zuagar said.

Jesus Soriano, president of AFGE Local 3403, which represents workers at the National Science Foundation and several other agencies, also said the budget clash felt different this time.

“Americans have to decide what type of services the government should provide, whether we’re talking about national security, the security of our borders, the security of our food, Social Security or others,” Soriano said in an interview in Chevy Chase, Maryland. .