First lady Michelle Obama appears in a White House video thanking staffers for keeping the office running even when 3 out of 4 staffers have been furloughed.
First lady Michelle Obama is seen visiting staffers throughout the White House in the administration’s weekly “West Wing Week” video, thanking them for their work to keep the offices running while 3 out of 4 staffers have been furloughed.
Only a sixth of the staff that normally tends to the president’s residence remains, and the “usual buzz of employees across the White House grounds has dipped to a quiet hum,” according to the AP. The team that tends to Vice President Joe Biden’s Naval Observatory residence has been cut to one person, and his 24-person White House team has been cut to 12.
Updates to White House Cabinet websites remain suspended, with only a few press releases going out from the Departments of State, Treasury, and Defense. The White House website greets visitors with a solemn all-black welcome screen that says: “Due to Congress’s failure to pass legislation to fund the government, the information on this web site may not be up to date.”