Government shutdown, def. an oxymoron. After the 2013 shutdown most employees were moved to the essential category which means they get paid weather the government is shutdown or not. Suggestions to introduce more categories, at least five, similar to the levels of security clearance or terror alerts, have remained unanswered as of today's date. The good news is the obvious corollary of this fact - the government is uncontrollable - doesn't seem to bother anybody.