Government shutdown: Delaware homebuyers, farmers frustrated by 'children in Washington'

Since the federal government entered its partial shutdown nearly three weeks ago, real estate agent Austin Auen has had to tell a handful of young, first-time homebuyers they won't be able to move in yet.

Because the U.S. Department of Agriculture is almost entirely closed during the shutdown, Auen's clients in more rural parts of Delaware haven't been able to get their USDA-backed home loans. 

"I just feel like a pawn," he said. "I don't know what to tell them, that there's absolutely nothing that can be done."

The USDA-backed loans are a popular option for younger buyers in qualifying rural areas because they require no down payment and have lower fees than traditional loans.

But with the USDA offices in Delaware closed, Auen's clients have their plans on hold. 

"My business is halted until this moves forward," he said. "Everyone in the transaction is affected. It's at a standstill."

Auen, whose office is in Dover, is not the only Delaware business owner who expressed frustration and disgust with Washington over the shutdown, now the second-longest in U.S. history.

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Georgetown-area soybean farmer Jay Baxter said he was unimpressed by the stalemate and that the shutdown furthered his disenchantment with elected officials, whom he called selfish and childish.  

At his farm, business goes on, even without federal funds he had hoped to apply for to make up for losses due to the U.S. trade war with other countries. 

"What are we going to do? Close up shop?" Baxter said. "No, because we've got a business to run, and we overcome the adversity that the children in Washington have created for us."

President Donald Trump on Tuesday night escalated the fight over Congressional appropriations to fund the government, addressing the country in a prime time speech from the Oval Office to demand a $5.7 billion wall along the southern U.S. border.

Democratic Congressional leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi fired back in their response and blamed Trump for holding federal workers hostage over what they called an expensive and unnecessary wall.

Baxter said he supports a wall or barrier at the border, "to keep out drugs and people that are out to do the citizens harm."

But he said he supports legal immigration and the rights of people to seek asylum in the U.S., and wants all sides in Washington to find a "happy medium."

"I'm hoping that they all can learn to get along, that this rift between stubborn people can change," he said. 

And until then, he said, "I really wish we could take their pay away from them."

Richard Wilkins of the Delaware Farm Bureau is also a soybean farmer. He said he's feeling a "tick upward in anxiety" over how the shutdown may continue to affect farmers.

The USDA won't be issuing its market reports, which Wilkins said many farmers rely on to help with prices. Other incentives and programs farmers use are also halted, he said.

The agency on Wednesday extended its deadline to apply for the trade war mitigation funds to make up for the shutdown.

"As a whole, the general feeling of the agriculture sector may be that we need bipartisanship," Wilkins said.

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Bob Older of the Delaware Small Business Chamber echoed that sentiment, while saying he wanted to stay politically neutral. 

"Both sides need to grow up and do what's right for the American people, not for their own parties," Older said. 

Older said he's having conversations with the chamber's members about the shutdown, and that there's been confusion among businesses over whether their tax filings will be processed with much of the Internal Revenue Service closed.

This week, Trump directed the IRS to start issuing tax refunds amid the shutdown, a departure in practice from previous shutdowns. Older said that hasn't eased the confusion.

Small businesses are also unable to access training programs and services at the temporarily shuttered Small Business Administration.

Those looking to start a business are currently unable to go to that agency for loans.

Auen, the Realtor, said he also wanted to be politically neutral, but said he felt Trump's Tuesday speech did not convince him his business had to be halted over the border issue.

"I just think they should open the government and then talk about border security," he said. "[My clients] don't know the process of why the government shuts down. They just can't get into their new home that they've already spent a lot of time and money on."

Are you a Delawarean being affected by the partial government shutdown? Share your thoughts with Jeanne Kuang at jkuang@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2476. Follow her on Twitter at @JeanneKuang.

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