The Daily Fuckup

WASHINGTON — The shutdown entered a more damaging stretch in the final days of that first week as the White House said in court filings that more than 4,000 federal workers were expected to be fired in connection with the funding lapse. The layoffs were reported on Oct. 10, underscoring that the administration was willing to use the shutdown to force pressure on Democrats while federal agencies ran on increasingly thin footing.

A day later, President Donald Trump directed the Pentagon to use available funds to make sure troops were paid, a move aimed at one of the shutdown’s most visible political flashpoints. The order did not protect civilian federal employees, many of whom were already furloughed and were now facing the prospect of permanent job losses on top of missed paychecks.

The closure of the Smithsonian added a public-facing consequence in Washington. The institution said its museums, research centers and National Zoo would remain open through Saturday, Oct. 11, and would close starting Sunday, Oct. 12 if the shutdown was still going. That meant the museums were not being shut immediately on Oct. 12 as part of a separate new decision; they were following the lapse plan the Smithsonian had already laid out.

Together, the moves showed a shutdown moving past the usual budget brinkmanship and into direct damage: threatened federal firings, selective protection for the military and the temporary shutdown of major public institutions. The longer the funding fight lasted, the more the consequences shifted from political leverage to real-world disruption for workers, visitors and agencies trying to keep operating.