21.   In a matter of hours, bulging federal bureaucracies were reduced to skeleton staffs and entire offices were empty and locked, with the lights turned off.

22.   In the shutdown, the White House has a skeleton staff.

23.   Most of the plant now stands idle, though the company continues with a skeleton staff.

24.   Still, thousands of nervous Capitol workers lined up for hours to get tested and only a skeleton Senate staff is expected at work Thursday.

25.   The aid agencies were leaving skeleton staffs in Kosovo.

26.   The CEA, with its skeleton staff, could never manage the task on its own.

27.   The dollar was little changed against other major currencies, as the Columbus Day holiday shut many banks and left others with only skeleton staffs.

28.   The heavily guarded U.S. embassy in Belgrade operated with a skeleton staff Monday.

29.   The only crowds seemed to be in the lobbies of the major hotels, where tourists congregated and skeleton staffs kept restaurants open.

30.   The official, Richard Butler, said that only a skeleton staff would be left in place.