The House’s new members are given nameplates to identify themselves and their belongings.

They are wearing lapel pins to identify themselves as members of Congress, and their families can see the halls they will walk as legislators.

The lower chamber has been frozen indefinitely by the long-running debate over whether Kevin McCarthy, the House GOP Leader (R-CA), deserves to be promoted to speaker.

All legislative work has been stopped.

The House’s secure facilities are not available to sitting lawmakers. They also can’t view classified documents. Oversight plans that have been months in the making can’t be referred to committees. Indefinite suspension is in effect for swearing-in ceremonies

Dozens upon dozens of newly-hired aides are left with nothing to do while their bosses live in political purgatory.

All aides are at risk of losing their paychecks if this continues beyond next week.

“We have a third of our three branches of the government offline right now. This is a very dangerous situation for our country and it cannot continue,” Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R.PA) said to CNN Wednesday.

House Democrats who watched with what appeared to Republicans as glee at the chaos that derailed the first days on the GOP agenda have expressed increasing concern over the shutdown.

Although no one has made any serious efforts to support a consensus candidate to end the impasse, some said they would consider backing a Republican who made concessions for the minority — provided that McCarthy is not involved.

In the state of limbo, it has become more difficult for legislators to provide constituent services.

Rep. Billy Long (Republican from Missouri) said that his staff was unsure if they were legally able to help constituents with routine issues, such as solving passport problems or aiding veterans, while the House is technically inoperative.

According to reports, the IRS turned down a congressional office that was trying to assist a constituent because there wasn’t a sworn in congressman.

This upheaval has caused confusion for members of both sides.

According to reports, Democratic congressional offices were told that they couldn’t take on new constituent cases while Congress remained in control.

Later, the Democratic offices received revised guidance that reversed the ban and blamed the confusion on “ongoing chaos.”

Republicans faced little chance of passing bills at the beginning of the 118th Congress, with a four-seat Republican majority in Congress and Democrats in control in the Senate and White House.

Their major plans to investigate the Biden administration are still on hold during uncertainty. They could be reduced significantly if they can reach an agreement with Democrats to hand the gauntlet to a centrist Republican.

This is because Democrats are open to the possibility of attracting their support, like Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), by giving them equal subpoena powers and increasing their representation on key committees, diluting GOP’s ratio.

The remarkable access to deal-making on floor due to the C-SPAN cameras has been a bright spot during the delay.

Normal operations dictate that the Speaker of the House has control over the C-SPAN cameras. The lens is usually restricted to the floor and cannot zoom in on individual interactions between legislators.

C-SPAN, however, controls the cameras and allows for close-ups of intense discussions between unanticipated groups of members. This adds to the dramatic drama of the speaker vote.