According to a memorandum issued by the Office of the President, whether the digital embargoes help anyone or not is not the issue. In fact, whether “the cost of shutting down a website exceeds the cost of maintaining services” is of no significance.

There are practical explanations. Servers and websites do not run themselves. If they are to remain active, security and other features must be maintained. Likewise, any sites with active fill-out forms could lead to an overflow for agencies once the shutdown ends.

Nevertheless, Sanchez suggests NASA and the FTC may also be engaging in a virtual “Washington Monument Syndrome” to parallel the tactic of blocking the most visible government services like national parks and war memorials. The same is likely true for the First Lady’s twitter account, which incurs no cost to the government whatsoever.