If snow keeps 230,000 government employees home for the better part of a week, will anyone notice?
With at least another foot of snow headed for Washington, Philadelphia and New York, we're about to find out. The federal government in the nation's capital has largely been shut down since Friday afternoon, when a storm began dumping up to 3 feet of snow in some parts of the region. Offices could remain closed at least through today.
So far, the effects have been negligible. Many essential government services are performed at offices around the country, and about 85 percent of federal employees work outside the Washington region anyway. Others were working from home. An IRS spokeswoman said that tax returns should not be affected.
"Anything that is critical is going to get done," said Linda Springer, a former director of the Office of Personnel Management, which oversees the federal work force of nearly 2 million workers.
Powerful winds and snow were expected to hit mid-Atlantic states by this afternoon, potentially dropping as much as 20 more inches on Washington and 18 inches near Philadelphia by tonight.
New York City announced that schools would have a rare snow day today, only the third in six years.
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