In January of 2018, the U.S. Congress failed to pass a spending bill, resulting in the temporary shutdown of the government. According to CNBC, certain agencies will run out of money putting their employees on furlough. Furlough is a forced leave of absence due to economic pressures. At the same time as the shutdown was occurring, a new internet joke surfaced. The idea was that each person in the U.S. has an FBI agent assigned to watch them through webcams, monitoring everything happening in their life. People have even begun joking that they are forming a bond with the agents and becoming friends. PCNN decided to find out how Panther Creek students felt about the shutdown and these FBI agents.

The majority of people interviewed heard about it and tried to sum it up for PCNN. “I know that, something happened with the senate and it caused the government to shut down,” Safa Khalid explained. When asked about the consequences of this problem, Jordan Foster said, “Employees aren’t going to get paid, but they’re still [currently] getting paid.” He also mentions how the military is still operational.

In regards to how this shutdown affects people emotionally, Josh Fletcher felt that it was, “A big concern, and it loses trust for the people.” Vinita Ravivarma hadn’t heard of the shutdown and said, “Me and my parents have never discussed about it.”

Jordan Foster also believes that there are FBI agents watching from webcams. He said he thinks that every time you get a new device, you’re assigned a new agent. Safa Khalid agreed with this, adding that she thinks it’s good of everyone to become friends with the agents.