At least Obama has a place to escape the shutdown: Presidential retreat Camp David remains open for business as almost a million federal workers sit at home with no resolution in sight

  • More than 250 Camp David staff remain at work should the president drop by
  • They include chefs, gardeners and electricians who are also getting paid
  • The camp falls under Department of Defence so all staff are deemed essential

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 07:39 EST, 4 October 2013 | UPDATED: 08:04 EST, 4 October 2013

Government services across the US may have all but ground to a halt, but there is one that remains open for business as usual: the Presidential paradise of Camp David.

The woodland retreat has stayed immune to the shutdown because it falls under the aegis of the Department of Defence, whose staff are designated as active-duty military personnel.

More than 250 chefs, gardeners, electricians and anybody else who keeps the camp running in Catoctin Mountain Park in Frederick County, Maryland, should the President drop by are not only still working, but are also getting paid, according to website TMZ.

Meanwhile, almost a million federal workers across the nation are sitting at home wondering when their next paycheck will drop through the letterbox as they wait for a resolution to the long-running dispute.

Presidential paradise: U.S. President Barack Obama reads briefing material while meeting with advisors inside his cabin at Camp David, Maryland, last year

Presidential paradise: U.S. President Barack Obama reads briefing material while meeting with advisors inside his cabin at Camp David, Maryland, last year

But their situation showed little sign of improving today as lawmakers consumed day three of the shutdown with a stalling game revealing no end in sight until the next crisis hits Washington around October 17.

 

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Meanwhile, in a speech at a Maryland construction company yesterday, Obama challenged Republicans to 'stop this farce' by allowing a straight vote on a spending bill. He reiterated he will not negotiate on the spending bill or the debt ceiling.

Danger: The situation gives 'every appearance of getting dangerously close to the conversation on the debt ceiling,' Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Minority Leader of the House of Representatives

Danger: The situation gives 'every appearance of getting dangerously close to the conversation on the debt ceiling,' Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Minority Leader of the House of Representatives

Obama said there were enough Republicans willing to pass a spending bill immediately if House Speaker John Boehner would allow a vote on a bill without partisan conditions attached, a so-called clean vote.

But Obama said the speaker was refusing to do so because 'he doesn't want to anger the extremists in his party.'

CAMP DAVID: A PRESIDENTIAL PARADISE

U.S. President George W. Bush (L) and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown

The 180-acre compound has been a home from home for US presidents to relax in since  Franklin D. Roosevelt converted it in 1942 and renamed it 'Shangri-La', after the fictional Himalayan paradise.

It was renamed Camp David by Dwight D. Eisenhower, in honor of his father and grandson, both named David.

It has a swimming pool, tennis courts, a skeet range, a bathhouse, a bowling alley, a horseshoe pit and many cabins for the president's guests.

Camp David is not open to the general public. Catoctin Mountain Park does not indicate the location of Camp David on its official park maps due to privacy and security concerns.

(Pictured: George W bush and former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown during a visit to camp David in 2007)

'My simple message today is 'Call a vote,'Obama said. 'Take a vote. Stop this farce, and end this shutdown right now.'

Congress must raise the nation's borrowing authority or risk default by October 17, and members of Congress now expect it to be the flashpoint for a larger clash over the U.S. budget as well as President Barack Obama's healthcare law.

The situation gives 'every appearance of getting dangerously close to the conversation on the debt ceiling,' Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.

In fact, she said, 'we're in the conversation on the debt ceiling.'

At the same time, hopes that the debt ceiling fight could be resolved without a catastrophe were raised by reports in The New York Times and Washington Post that House Speaker John Boehner told other lawmakers he would work to avoid default, even if it meant relying on the votes of Democrats, as he did in August of 2011.

A spokesman for Boehner would neither confirm nor deny the reports, restating previous public statements by the Speaker that 'the United States will not default on its debt.'

Senator Charles Schumer, the second-ranking Senate Democrat, reacting to the reports, said, 'This could be the beginnings of a significant breakthrough.'

The New York senator added, 'Even coming close to the edge of default is very dangerous,' as he urged quick passage of legislation to raise the $16.7 trillion cap on borrowing.

Closed: Staff at National Parks and museums across the country were stopped from coming to work, closing those sites to the public

Closed: Staff at National Parks and museums across the country were stopped from coming to work, closing those sites to the public

Deserted: The usually-crowded Statuary Hall, site of the original US House Chamber, is empty of visitors after tours were closed

Deserted: The usually-crowded Statuary Hall, site of the original US House Chamber, is empty of visitors after tours were closed

Safety first: Airport-screening staff will remain at work during the shutdown with safety being a top priority

Safety first: Airport-screening staff will remain at work during the shutdown with safety being a top priority

There was little action along with the talk on Thursday. The Republican-controlled House continued what has become a long process of voting to fund publicly popular federal agencies - like the Veterans Administration, the National Park Service and the National Institutes of Health - that are now partially closed.

Republicans know that neither the Democratic-controlled Senate or President Barack Obama will go along with such an approach, but it allows them to accuse Democrats of working against the interests of veterans, National Parks and cancer patients.

HOW THE SHUTDOWN HAS AFFECTED FEDERAL SERVICES

Up to one million U.S. federal workers have been on furloughs without pay since Tuesday morning.

All military personnel continued in a normal duty status but a large number of civilian employees may be temporarily furloughed.

The employees who have been put on unpaid leave are those classified as excepted workers, meaning that the president's staff of 1,265 at the White House will dwindle to 436.

Staff at National Parks and museums across the country were stopped from coming to work, closing those sites to the public.

Both domestic and international air travel  remained relatively unchanged as air traffic controllers will be kept at their posts and TSA agents will continue security checks. One problem may arise as the State

Department will be understaffed, meaning that while it will not stop processing passport applications.

Federal courts remain open for about 10 business days. By October 15, the federal judiciary will need to provide more guidance.

Meat inspectors for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, considered necessary to national food security, have stayed on the job.

House Republicans on Thursday began queuing up 11 more bills to fund targeted programs.

They are to fund nutrition programs for low-income women and their children, a program to secure nuclear weapons and non-proliferation, food and drug safety, intelligence-gathering, border patrols, American Indian and Alaska Native health and education programs, weather monitoring, Head Start school programs for the poor and other aid for schools that rely heavily on federal assistance.

Disaster assistance also is slated for temporary renewal under the House measures, as well as a bill to provide retroactive pay to federal workers during the government shutdown.

'We're trying to see if we can get the Senate and the president to start talking to us, on anything. They're just not talking to us,' said Republican Representative Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, explaining the tactic.

The bills are likely to be debated on the House floor over coming days, not all at once. Democrats have rejected the piecemeal approach and Obama has said he will veto the measures.

Work in Congress was interrupted on Thursday afternoon when the U.S. Capitol was locked down briefly due to gunshots fired outside the building. One female suspect was shot dead after a brief car chase across downtown Washington. Police said it appeared to be an isolated incident.

The security alert halted work in both the House and the Senate and briefly diverted attention from the shutdown that took effect at midnight on Monday, leaving nearly a million federal workers sidelined without pay and many others in the private sector suffering from the knock-on effect.

The Capitol Police who responded to the incident are working without pay due to the shutdown - they are deemed essential so remain on the job, but their pay is frozen.

In his speech earlier, Obama warned that as painful as the government shutdown was, a default caused by a failure to raise the debt limit would be dramatically worse for the economy.

Lunch is served: School students who qualify for free school lunches and breakfast will not go hungry even if the shutdown goes ahead this week

Lunch is served: School students who qualify for free school lunches and breakfast will not go hungry even if the shutdown goes ahead this week

Shutdown: The tourist trips to Alcatraz would stop running if the federal shutdown goes ahead on Monday

Shutdown: The tourist trips to Alcatraz stopped running

Though some moderate Republicans have begun to question their party's strategy, Boehner so far has kept them largely united with the small bills to re-open national parks, restore health research and other parts of the government most visibly affected by the shutdown.

The Tea Party Express, one of the anti-tax groups in the conservative Tea Party that has led the fight against Obamacare, sent an email to supporters on Wednesday evening saying that as many as 12 Republicans had indicated they were willing to "give up on the fight" and join Democrats in voting for a funding bill without conditions.

'We need your immediate support to put pressure on the weak Republicans to pass a sensible solution that allows America to avoid the Obamacare train-wreck, while fully funding the federal government,' the group said in its email.



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At least he's WORKING. Bush spent 2 years out of 8 on Vacation while waging 2 Wars! Some days he would leave for a month at a time. But if Obama takes off for a long weekend you all lose your minds! Hypocrites.

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The Dems forced a STATE park in Virginia to close (under threat of arresting the state paid staff for trespassing, but AT LEAST they have stopped spending money wastefully!!! I spent 14+ years workiing for the Federal government. About half of them could be eliminated. Cheers.

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Obama is not willing to negotiate. He is the one holding things up. Republicans are trying hard to repeal Obamacare like their constituents want. This so called affordable healthcare is not affordable, hurting businesses, and losing people their jobs. Obama is now hiding at Camp David and having a little pout. He needs to grow up and learn to negotiate on his pet project.

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There are failings in most systems of Government but to have the opposition controlling those in power through the nations funds has to be the least favourable. Can we imagine it here?

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He could have gone to Guantanamo bay , that's STILL open .

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