As Gray says in the letter, the Mayor and Council declared all city employees essential, which has kept the city government running during the shutdown. “However, those funds will soon be exhausted, and the federal shutdown may continue indefinitely,” Gray wrote.

Good morning, Washington. I respectfully disrupt your editor-in-chief’s three-day heat lede, relegating the swelter to bring you the latest in political posturing. On Friday night House Speaker John Boehner again walked away from a “grand bargain&#8221 on the debt. Obama and Boehner delivered dueling press conferences following the announcement, each putting their own fiery spin on the embarrassing news that talks had failed.