Kennedy's DC office to close Oct. 25

Staffers at the late Sen. Ted Kennedy's (D-Mass.) office in Washington received instructions on Wednesday to halt work on constituent requests and begin work to close the office.

Kenney's staff members will be on the payroll until October 25, the Boston Globe reported on Thursday. The order to shut down came from the Secretary of the Senate and was anticipated by the aides.

The "lion" of the Senate was known for taking many constituent requests.

"It's very painful because the people coming into our office, they literally cry on us and say, 'we’re desperate and we need help; we need Senator Kennedy’s help,'" one longtime Kennedy staff member told the Globe on the condition of anonymity due to an office policy of not speaking publicly about casework details.

"It's heartbreaking when we've never said no to someone before.’"