Everyone is Under Pressure
Hi caseworkers,
It was so nice to see folks who joined our Caseworker Water Cooler chat yesterday! We know that, as the shutdown drags on, the pressures on all of you are only mounting, and it was nice to see caseworkers (as always) come together to share tips, ideas, and just a bit of togetherness in a weird time. For the duration of the shutdown and any time, if we can be helpful, please let us know, and don’t miss the resource guide we put together for you, including financial tips and advice, at CapitolStrong.org/resources.
One thing that came up in our conversation: are there offices out there who have furloughed part of your casework team, or come up with a rotating furlough schedule? Switched to remote work to save folks commuting costs? Please drop me a line if you’re up for sharing how you are lessening the burden on your own staff!
Also, news from our team: please welcome our newest staff member, Caitlin McNally! Caitlin will be helping put together this newsletter going forward, so please send us any tips, questions, or things it would be helpful for us to cover.
Hang in there, y’all: and if there is anything we can do to support you, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at anne@popvox.org.
Anne Meeker
Managing Director
POPVOX Foundation
Casework News
An absolutely lovely profile of longtime South Carolina caseworker Deb Blickenstaff — congratulations on 20 years of Senate casework (almost 28 counting House time as well), Deb!
Very nice local reporting on the value of casework from the NC News and Observer
Local column from Rep. Babin [R, TX] that shares a list of agencies not responsive to casework inquiries right now
Shutdown News
The FAA reports critical staffing shortages at half of the nation’s Core 30 airports as unpaid traffic controllers and TSA staff call out or take side jobs, straining the national airspace system. If the shutdown continues, the FAA will reduce flights by 10% at 40 major airports starting today.
The Federal Employee Education and Assistance Fund has fully depleted its $1 million emergency fund after more than 10,000 lower-income federal employees applied for help.
Sen. Lankford [R, OK] is warning that federal employees could lose health care coverage because agencies are no longer contributing to the trust funds managed by OPM that pay for their insurance.
Federal agencies have begun sending renewed furlough notices to more than 700,000 workers indicating that their non-pay status will now extend through late November, and have dropped assurances of guaranteed retroactive pay.
Passport staff at the Bureau of Consular Affairs — though exempt from furloughs and normally funded by passport fees, not annual appropriations — are working without pay, with the bureau unable to explain why its fee‑based funds are not being used to pay them.
Small businesses are losing access to approximately $170 million daily in SBA-backed loans during the shutdown, with the SBA releasing state-level data showing which are most affected.
Security clearance processing is backing up as DCSA pauses industry background investigations — experts warn it could take up to three months post-shutdown to clear the backlog.
Nearly half of 369 military families surveyed report pay discrepancies during mid-October: 164 were underpaid by an average of $600–$800, and 55 received no pay at all. No corrections have been issued. Compounding the crisis, families mid-PCS are trapped in hotels due to furloughed housing inspectors, while others face $200-$400 monthly in credit card interest on unreimbursed moving expenses.
Overseas federal employees face unique hardships as housing allowances, COLA, and hardship pay remain frozen — some are receiving only 40% of normal pay, with no access to local unemployment or side jobs due to visa limits.
House Democrats are pressing the National Nuclear Security Administration’s leadership to end furloughs for roughly 1,400 employees, warning that the prolonged work stoppage undermines US nuclear deterrence.
Head Start programs serving 58,000+ children face closure as federal grants expire, with another 65,000+ children at risk each month the shutdown continues.
The White House has an interactive map of the shutdown’s impact that includes state-by-state data on numbers of SNAP beneficiaries impacted, canceled federal grants, SBA loans, and other federal programs.
Agency News
SNAP
SNAP benefits will be at least partially restored for November following court orders. A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to deliver SNAP payments in full to states by Friday. The administration agreed to the partial payments earlier this week, but have yet to respond to the latest court ruling. Implementation of partial or full benefit amounts could take weeks to months. These court decisions prompt a partial return to the USDA’s original shutdown plans and a step back from its announcement last week that it can not legally utilize contingency funds to provide SNAP benefits.
The USDA has instructed grocery stores to comply with SNAP’s Equal Treatment Rule and avoid offering discounts exclusively to SNAP recipients, though stores including Instacart have applied for waivers to offer discounts to SNAP recipients.
In addition to shutdown challenges, SNAP remains vulnerable as outdated magnetic-stripe cards allow criminals to steal millions in benefits through skimming.
SNAP management app Propel has launched an emergency relief fund to support SNAP households hit by the shutdown. Their data shows that by Oct 28, more than half of their app users had less than $10 left in their EBT accounts.
Changes to SNAP funding amounts are also compounding challenges for state agencies to implement new OBBBA rules on SNAP by 2026.
Ohio’s Center for Community Solutions shared a nonprofit communications toolkit on messaging SNAP impacts and changes that may be helpful for Congressional offices to share proactive messaging.
Social Security
Reps. Sykes [D, OH] and Bresnahan [D, PA] introduced the GUARD Act, which would fund SSA through 2026 and require the agency to keep responding to Congressional inquiries during shutdowns.
The 2.8% COLA for Social Security recipients will still arrive in January, but rising Medicare Part B premiums ($185 → $206.50 monthly) will likely absorb most of the increase.
VA
Nearly half of Veterans Benefits Administration staff have been furloughed or working without pay, hampering key benefits services for veterans.
The GI Bill hotline remains offline, dozens of regional VA benefits offices are reportedly closed, and more than 150 VA cemeteries are without regular upkeep, though burials are still proceeding.
Immigration
DHS proposed a rule to expand biometric collection across the immigration system, including requiring fingerprints, DNA, eye scans, and other identifiers from US citizens, children under 14, and anyone “associated” with immigration benefit applications.
ICE is denying Congressional visits to immigration detention facilities during the shutdown, claiming the legal access requirement expired with FY 2025 funding and doesn’t exist in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that now funds the agency.
AILA warns that the decision by USCIS to end automatic work-permit extensions, despite renewal backlogs, could push lawfully employed immigrants out of jobs.
DHS and the Board of Immigration Appeals are pursuing deportation of an Afghan man who aided US missions — a case advocates say could set precedent for thousands of similar asylum claims.
The White House quietly extended the refugee ban and capped FY 2026 admissions at 7,500, effectively halting resettlement for Afghans and other vulnerable groups.
Roughly 1,300 Afghan citizens seeking asylum, refugee status, or other legal pathways to entry remain stranded at Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar, facing mental health challenges amid ongoing processing delays.
Some SIV holders in Vermont who aided US forces are being denied SNAP eligibility under state interpretation of a recent spending bill.
Miscellaneous
Ukraine’s Diia AI Support Expands: Diia’s AI consultant has handled over 500,000 citizen requests, independently resolving 85% of them — streamlining services and freeing human staff for complex cases.
A newly finalized rule by the Department of Education will disqualify certain employers with a “substantial illegal purpose” from the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program — potentially barring some public-service workers from student loan relief starting in July 2026.
Bipartisan state election officials are pushing back on the Trump administration’s proposed federal online voter registration form, warning it could delay processing and conflict with state signature requirements.
Miscellaneous
As my former colleague Katherine Long wrote — economic downturns show up in casework, both as an early warning and in the long tail of impact. With that in mind, we’re watching some indicators like rising electricity rates and missing car payments. They may not require immediate attention, but are good for caseworkers to be aware of.
The Department of Labor is piloting a centralized intake platform for unemployment claims.
Although the announcement was delayed due to the shutdown, SSA announced a 2.8% COLA for beneficiaries starting in January.
OPM Director Scott Kupor’s blog on OPM transformation is always an interesting read (we heard that someone recently buttonholed him at a conference to evangelize for the value of good casework service — watch this space?).
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