Furloughed federal workers and union members, upset with the Republican-controlled House of Representatives over the current government shutdown, listen at a news conference with U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, Senator Barbara Mikulski, Senator Barbara Boxer and Senator Mark Warner on Capitol Hill in Washington, October 2, 2013. The fight between Democrats and the Republicans over the government's borrowing power is rapidly merging with the standoff over every day funding, which has forced the first government shutdown in 17 years and forced hundreds of thousands of federal employees to take unpaid leave. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS)