Shutdown Shutters Garrett's Bergen County Office

Rep. Scott Garrett’s district office in Glen Rock closed this week until further notice due to the shutdown of the federal government.

A sign posted on the door of the Harristown Road suite notified constituents that the office had closed due to the lapse in congressional appropriations, and directed residents to call the representative's Washington office at 202-225-4465.

The first government shutdown in 17 years commenced at midnight Tuesday, after Republicans seeking to make continued federal funding contingent upon a delay in implementing Obamacare failed to reach a budget agreement with the Democratic senate.

According to a report by the Committee on House Administration prepared last month to guide legislators in the event of a shutdown, members of congress have discretion to distinguish between essential and nonessential staff during a lapse in appropriations.

Members of congress have taken different approaches to managing their district offices during the budget lapse, with some ceasing constituent services altogether and at least one, Rep. Krysten Sinema, an Arizona Democrat, expanding district office operations during the shutdown.

Garrett, a conservative Republican and senior member of the House Budget Committee, placed the blame for the shutdown squarely on a Democratic refusal to flinch on the sweeping health care reforms.

“I am deeply disappointed that President Obama and the Senate refused to come to the negotiation table and failed to fund the federal government,” he said in a statement Tuesday. “In vote after vote, House Republicans have looked to compromise, as has historically been the case when debating budgets, but Democrats in Washington refused to budge.”

Democrats, on the other hand, have pointed fingers at Republicans in the House of Representatives.

Garrett's Washington office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday on the office's closing.

The Glen Rock office is the only Bergen County constituent office of Garrett, whose fifth district also includes part of Passaic and most of Sussex and Warren Counties. His Newton office, in Sussex, remains open, according to a release.