SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
The federal government is closed for a second day. With park visitor centers locked and many federal employees furloughed, Republicans and Democrats say voters should hold the other side responsible for the fallout. But as NPR's Sam Gringlas reports from Georgia, some people are focused less on who is to blame than on how long the shutdown will last.
SAM GRINGLAS, BYLINE: The last shutdown dragged on for 35 days. Among the hardest hit were TSA employees at Atlanta's humongous airport, who had to keep working without pay.
KYLE WADE: So we did mass distributions of food, and there were hundreds of cars in line of people who needed help.
GRINGLAS: Atlanta Community Food Bank President Kyle Wade says it's not clear if his organization will be looking at a small uptick or something more catastrophic.
WADE: Nonetheless, there will be more demand that food banks will have to respond to on top of that extraordinary level of need that they're already facing.
GRINGLAS: At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which employs thousands in Metro Atlanta, the shutdown also comes at an already taxing time. The Trump administration has spent months slashing CDC jobs and programs. Now thousands more employees are furloughed, and President Trump has threatened mass layoffs during the shutdown.
YOLANDA JACOBS: It feels like there's malice versus what it was like back in 2018, 2019.
GRINGLAS: Yolanda Jacobs is president of the union that represents many CDC employees.
JACOBS: Now, we feel like whatever is happening is meant to intentionally clear out and cull the herd, so to speak.
GRINGLAS: At the 7,000-acre Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, conservancy director Brittany Jones is also worried about the long-term consequences of a shutdown.
BRITTANY JONES: I had C-SPAN on, and it was a long, sleepless night.
GRINGLAS: The morning after funding lapsed, I met Jones by some Adirondack chairs overlooking the river. Park rangers rushed to close up the 1920s visitor center. Jones just had to cancel fourth grade field trips scheduled this week.
JONES: We're anticipating we're going to have to unfortunately disappoint all those kids that were excited to come to their national park right now.
GRINGLAS: Only five park service employees will remain on duty. Jones says she's proud the conservancy can step up.
JONES: But we also don't want to set a precedent for stepping in too deep. Then there's an assumption that we can take on more roles when the reality is our mission is to enhance the park, not run the park.
GRINGLAS: Jones is worried the shutdown could permanently reshape the relationship. Mary Keesee comes to this park often.
MARY KEESEE: On a warm day, you'll see the cormorants with their wings out like that, and I think that'll be so great to see, so...
GRINGLAS: She says she's not sure who's responsible for the shutdown.
KEESEE: I just heard something from one of the walkers. It's that the Democrats want to give free health insurance, and I wasn't sure to who.
GRINGLAS: She's referring to Democrats holding out for a deal to extend health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. Republicans have made misleading claims about undocumented immigrants getting them. At a trailhead, I found Stephen and Amantha Moore unloading a cooler from their rental car.
STEPHEN MOORE: My retirement goal is to visit every park managed by the park service. So this is Day 2 of a trip that appears like it's not going to go as planned.
GRINGLAS: As they unfurled a big map of their itinerary, I asked the Moores how they saw the shutdown.
AMANTHA MOORE: I respect the Democrats for taking a stand finally.
GRINGLAS: Is there a limit to how long you think Democrats should hold the line?
S MOORE: I don't know how long. I mean, it could go on for months.
A MOORE: One of our sons worked for the National Park Service during that long period when the government shutdown, and there were people in dire straits.
GRINGLAS: So how do you kind of square those two things together?
A MOORE: Well, I can't, really.
GRINGLAS: This purple stretch of Atlanta suburbs will be a key battleground in next year's midterms when Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff is up for reelection. He voted against the Republican stopgap bill. Finishing lunch in a nearby town, Reg Hunter says he blames Democrats for the shutdown.
REG HUNTER: Ossoff himself, I've heard him talk, and he seems like a fairly reasonable guy.
GRINGLAS: Hunter's lunch companion, Thomas Nelson, says he's not sure if the shutdown will affect his vote.
THOMAS NELSON: Maybe depending on how people act, you know, and how it gets resolved. I don't really spend a whole lot of time worrying about that. I think more about my kids and grandkids.
GRINGLAS: Though for many people that could change the longer the shutdown wears on. Sam Gringlas, NPR News, Sandy Springs, Georgia. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.