As members of Congress continue to pass the blame for the federal government shutdown on one another, a handful of people stood outside the Capitol building this afternoon to demand to be put back to work.

On the west side of the Capitol just after 2 p.m., ten people stood with signs reading “Close The Shutdown” and “Stop Acting Like Spoiled Brats.” They chanted “Pass the budget! Let us work!” A group of tourists stopped to watch the protest and take photos.

John, a federal worker who didn’t offer his last name, had been outside since 11 a.m. and was there the day before.

“My message is not to the people in the building, but to Americans,” John said through the one dollar bill taped to his mouth by bandaids. “That they have to take action. … Our dysfunctional government has been allowed to take hold because people are not engaged in their communities and in the process.”

“It’s people’s responsibility to watch the government, not the other way around.”

John said he was furloughed for six days this summer and is once again experiencing that “extreme hardship.”

On the east side of the Capitol, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi gathered with other House democrats to demand a vote on the “clean” Senate-passed funding bill. Pelosi, along with Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), is scheduled to meet with President Obama this afternoon. Meanwhile, the shutdown continues.