Thread by @weareoversight

Remember when the government shutdown last year because the president wanted funding for a border wall?

Records we obtained show the impact of the longest government in U.S. history on federal projects at the country’s main science agencies: americanoversight.org/in-the-documen…

Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of the end of the shutdown, which cost the government billions. We're still investigating the consequences — which range from canceled trips to major conferences to employee departures.

NASA furloughed 95 percent of its workforce during the shutdown, which resulted in an exodus of highly skilled employees: documentcloud.org/documents/6478…

And because the funding lapsed for multiple contracts, the report noted many contractors working on "mission critical and safety operations" continued to work "at risk" — while others simply stopped working.

And that's not all — a Senate report released last fall found that the NASA shutdown cost taxpayers more than $244 million and resulted in 1,541 lost years of workers' collective productivity: hsgac.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/…

You read that right. 1,541 lost YEARS.

The U.S. Geological Survey experienced negative effects on hiring and retaining employees, as well as project delays and lost work. A report we obtained also lists important meetings and conferences that were missed: documentcloud.org/documents/6664…

We also obtained an email sent by a USGS scientist describing "another impact of the shutdown" — that her project lost several weeks of work: documentcloud.org/documents/6664…

Documents we obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show that the shutdown not only had an impact on scientific research, but it also affected private businesses that rely on government weather data: americanoversight.org/in-the-documen…

NOAA also had to cancel travel to the American Meteorological Society conference — which is described as "the largest and most effective event to share and exchange science," including "science that is focused on improving services to society."

Then there remained the question about what to do about the unattended NOAA booth at the conference that the agency already spent $70,000 to set up.

In the end, there was just an "empty footprint": documentcloud.org/documents/6479…