Didja thank the DMV peeps for working during the shutdown? DMV life is pretty shitty on a normal day, not getting paid for the ordeal makes it break the speed limit of shit.
When they say they aren't paying people, that means they're not working. This is the reason government websites in the USA are going offline: no techs are at work to renew the TLS certificates. That's how bad it's getting. When government websites are going offline since you laid off the IT staff that are supposed to maintain them, you know those places really are completely shut down and not just running without pay.
Not quite true, as it depends on which class of employee you are. Most employees, referred to as non-excepted, are indeed furloughed. However, excepted employees (usually referred to unofficially by the original term "essential") are required to work even without pay, as their positions are required either for safety of people, safety of property, or essential to agency processes. While traditionally such employees will receive backpay after government functions are restored, there's been some concern which I rather hope is unwarranted that no such compromise may be found this time. Air traffic controllers, military personnel, TSA, and border patrol are all exampleps of personnel considered essential, and even when they say they are not paying people right now, it does not mean at all that they're not working. It just means they're working for nothing more than a promise of pay.
Or, you know, mysteriously calling in sick due to missing-paycheck-itis.