Meat inspectors are among half of the employees of the United States Department of Agriculture who have chosen to work without pay.
They can’t be paid because politicians have not authorized spending money in a standoff between President Donald Trump, who wants money to build a wall along the border with Mexico, and Democrats who now control the House of Representatives and refuse to include that money in budget approvals.
There are more than 450,000 federal employees who are working without pay, according to staff working for Senate Appropriations Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont.
Leahy said the USDA has closed Farm Service Agency county offices across the country, affecting the ability of farmers and ranchers to obtain loans.
And a judge in North Carolina shelved a lawsuit against Smithfield Foods because a jury would not be paid. It was due to begin this week and is the fifth manure-related nuisance lawsuit to make it to court. Smithfield has lost the first four.
