The Demoralizing of the Federal Workforce
b'A job in the government has long been underwritten by the understanding that while you wouldn\\u2019t strike it rich on the federal pay scale, you also didn\\u2019t need to worry about the corporate world\\u2019s mercurial whims. The focus was on serving the public, rather than pursuing profits. The pace could be frustratingly inefficient, but it also was not maddeningly chaotic. And the trade-off came with solid health and retirement benefits.\\n\\nThat grand bargain \\u2014 deployed for decades to lure talent into the government ranks \\u2014 is threatened today by a bruising shutdown with no end in sight. And this is the third shutdown in one year.\\xa0 The situation is exacerbated by a president who appears to view many government workers with contempt, deriding the federal bureaucracy as \\u201cthe Deep State\\u201d and noting derisively via tweet that DJ Trump thinks most government workers are Democrats. WP'