In a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing held last week, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) heard testimony from Navy Adm. Mike Rogers, commander of U.S. Cyber Command (Cybercom), on how a potential government shutdown could complicate Cybercom’s mission.
Kaine’s concerns stem from a recent comment made by President Trump, stating that he would be in favor of a “good” shutdown in September should Congress not be able to agree upon a year-long budget bill.
During questioning, Kaine asked Rogers if there would be any circumstance under which Cybercom’s mission would be benefited by a shutdown of the government, to which Rogers responded, “No.”
“The number one issue that my workforce often raises with me is what we went through in 2013, and it’s now four years later,” Rogers said. “Still, every time there is the merest hint in the media of this potentiality, I get: ‘Sir, are we going through this again?’ ‘Sir, you said this wasn’t going to happen.’ ‘I thought they were committed to our mission.’… Senator, we just want to do the mission, we just need the support to keep moving forward.”
Virginia is home to approximately 170,000 federal employees, the most of any state in the country, leaving them all to be directly or indirectly affected by a shutdown.