'My pay is being held hostage': Federal workers on US government shutdownAlthough most of the comments below are anonymous, we have verified that the speakers are federal workers. BBC News has been speaking to federal workers about their views and how the shutdown has affected them. US federal workers have described their state of uncertainty, with many now on unpaid leave due to a government shutdown and one remarking that their salary was being "held hostage". 'I'm rather conflicted'"The last shutdown was brutal", said one federal worker, who highlighted that the impasse in 2018-19 lasted more than a month. Randall from Kansas City, who works with the Aviation Weather Center, said: "I don't like my pay being held hostage while the government fights over separate issues."