Furloughed federal worker in North Texas ready for shutdown to end

A furloughed federal worker who lives and works in North Texas said Monday the government shutdown needs to end so she can go back to work.

Lakisa Williams has been a federal employee for 18 years and has a job answering telephone calls at the Internal Revenue Service. The single mother of two children is worried as the shutdown, which hit its 24th day on Monday, continues with no end in sight.

“It’s been hard, it’s been a struggle just trying to make ends meet,” Williams said. “My daughter is a senior this year. I have senior fees, I have graduation and she's also going to college next year -- so it’s been, it’s been really a struggle.”

Some 700 people work with her in the Dallas IRS customer service center.

“Some of my friends, they are gathering cans. I have friends that are giving plasma just to pay water bills, gas bills,” Williams said.

The shutdown began in late December over a stalemate between congressional Democrats and President Trump over funding for a border wall.

“The government remains shut down for one reason and one reason only -- the Democrats will not fund border security, our safety, national security,” Trump said on Monday.

He claims the wall is necessary not only to stop illegal immigrants, but criminals and drugs.

Polls released over the weekend show Trump gets the most blame from Americans for the government shutdown.

Williams is one of many federal workers hoping the shutdown will soon be swept away.

“We could care one way or another about the wall, we just wanna go back to work so we can get paid,” Williams said.