Federal workers have had a challenging year, to say the least. Given President Trump’s efforts to gut and restructure the bureaucracy, soundtracked by the roar of Elon Musk’s DOGE chainsaw in the administration’s early months, many civil servants have either lost their jobs or accepted deferred-resignation packages. For those who remain, this ongoing government shutdown is a particularly pointed blow, as the White House threatens even more mass layoffs.

Christoph Herpfer is an assistant professor of business administration at the University of Virginia. His research finds that shutdowns continue to snarl government efficiency long after they end—mainly because of their impact on the morale of federal employees. We asked him more about these long-term shutdown consequences and how he e

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