Can’t speak for the entire government. But I know enough to say the “nonessential” label is profoundly misleading and that you’d be deeply alarmed if you knew what the shutdown meant for national security. Here’s an apt analogy...

You’re Coach Bennett. The hoops program is shutting down. Only “essential” functions will continue. You only need five guys to play, right? Assistants and bench players aren’t necessary at a basic level. For the duration of the shutdown, it’s only Tony and five players, plus a trainer and bus driver; everyone else stays home. No one does film. No one recruits.

Maybe you’re fine for 20 minutes. Maybe you even manage 40. But it’ll take an increasingly heavy toll over time.

That’s the truth. Even in the IC. So, yeah, everyone should care.