Meanwhile in Washington D.C.

Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn found himself stranded inside the Capitol, an odd position for a small-government curmudgeon who called the government shutdown a "dream." He cleaned his desk, wrote to constituents, read books and reveled at the empty corridors of power.

"The best thing is we're not passing any legislation, which ultimately will save the government a lot of money," he said. "We're not gonna be blamed for this one," he added, alluding to a prior shutdown in 1996, caused by a dispute over the federal budget.