SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Nearly half of the 11,466 federal employees in Alaska have been furloughed or working without pay because of a partial government shutdown in Washington, local news outlet said Sunday.
About 5,624 people who are in unappropriated status are waiting for President Trump to strike a deal with Congress on any solution that facilitates re-opening of the federal government, so that they can get paid in time, the Must Read Alaska reported.
Trump initiated the partial closure of the government in December 2018 after he failed to settle a dispute with Congress on funding a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to keep off illegal immigrants from Central America, who fled violence in their home country to seek refuge in the United States.
The hardest-hit federal agencies are Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Homeland Security, Interior, and Transportation, which have not received funding from Congress appropriations.
The Alaska news outlet said federal workers in the Alaska State include 2,600 employees in the Department of Interior, 1,100 in Transportation, and 900 in Agriculture, mostly at the U.S. Forest Service.
Alaska has the highest percentage of federal workers who have been furloughed or working without pay following the government closure, the Washington Post reported earlier.
