At 12:01 on Oct. 1, the government came to a standstill thanks to Congress failing to come to an agreement on enhanced Obamacare subsidies, according to CNN.

The first since 2018, the current federal shutdown is expected to last at least until Friday, Oct. 3, when Senators return.  According to CNN, federal workers are expected to receive the majority of the kickback, with imminent layoffs coming down the pipeline.  

Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran said on the Senate floor that the Senate is failing the nation “yet again.” 

“Every city council or commission, every school board, every local government office in my state passes a budget and then lives within that budget every year,” said Sen. Moran. “Every local unit of government at home can figure this out, and the U.S. Senate is failing one more time.”

Sen. Moran implored the Senate to pursue a decision.

“A shutdown means uncertainty; a shutdown means dysfunction,” Sen. Moran said.

According to the Kansas Reflector, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly called attention to the devastating consequences if the Senate cannot arrive at a middle ground.

“Republicans have the opportunity to come to the table and negotiate a bipartisan bill in good faith that meets the needs of American people and prevents health care costs from skyrocketing because of the changes they made in the ‘one big, ugly bill.’ If they don’t, the consequences for the people we serve will be devastating,” Kelly said.

While the Senate works towards the 60 votes needed to pass the Republican bill to keep funding the government, Shannon Ellis, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, describes to KMBC the 5,000 IRS employees’ reactions to the shutdown with three words: fear, anger and panic.

“Those of us that have been through this before, we are angry at being used as pawns in a political game because that’s all it is,” Ellis said. “These are your friends, your family, your coworkers. They need your help right now.”