Workers clamor for unemployment benefits: At least 4,806 federal employees and contractors living in D.C., Maryland and Virginia have applied for unemployment benefits since the shutdown began on Dec. 22, according to a POLITICO tally of the latest numbers maintained by state and local officials. The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents about 150,000 federal workers, is planning a rally on Thursday to call for an end to the shutdown. Roughly 800,000 federal workers are affected, 350,000 of whom are furloughed and the rest are still on the job without pay.

Assuaging fears over food stamp funding: The Trump administration on Tuesday said funding for food stamp benefits won’t run out in February — even though White House officials just a few days ago raised the specter of the program running out of money. Nearly 39 million people depend on the program each month, and until today USDA had declined to answer questions about how it will keep the program afloat.

TSA’s call-outs increase: Hundreds of TSA agents have called out of work since the shutdown began and the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents a chunk of TSA employees, says some have even quit all together. TSA said that on Jan. 7, the agency had an “unscheduled absence rate” of 4.6 percent, compared to 3.8 percent on the same day the previous year.