DULUTH — Most federal workers throughout the region are either furloughed or working without pay during the federal government shutdown.

Typically, once Congress can agree on funding the government and the shutdown ends, furloughed workers return to their jobs, and those who worked during the shutdown are given back pay. But this time, the Trump administration has threatened to use this as an opportunity to make permanent cuts to the federal workforce.

“It’s happened before, so this part doesn’t feel that unusual. I guess it’s almost expected with all the chaos,” said a federal employee in the Duluth area who remains on the job. The employee asked that their name and agency not be used. “The wrinkle is, you have Trump saying he wants to fire people instead of furlough people, which has a

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