The government could shut down in less than a week. Here’s what you need to know. Right now, congressional leaders are busy blaming one another for the looming shutdown, but no clear path is emerging for how funding might be approved.
Both Republican and Democratic proposals that would have funded the government past Tuesday failed in the Senate during the eleventh hour, effectively shutting down the government at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday.
The federal government ran out of money after a Democratic-backed spending bill that would have extended health care subsidies under the Affordable Care Act and reversed cuts to Medicaid failed, as well as the GOP-backed stopgap funding measure that would have funded the government for seven weeks also failed.
Following the two failed votes on Tuesday, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought told federal agencies they “should now execute their plans for an orderly shutdown.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urged Republicans to come to the negotiating table after the upper chamber failed to pass a measure to avert a government shutdown.
“We want to sit down and negotiate, but the Republicans can’t do it in their partisan way, where they just say it’s our way or the highway,” Schumer said at a news conference following Senate votes Tuesday night.
The Senate is expected to vote again on Wednesday, likely on the same two measures that failed Tuesday.
President Donald Trump and a bipartisan group of congressional leaders met at the White House on Monday afternoon to attempt to avoid the looming shutdown.
“I think we’re headed to a shutdown because the Democrats won’t do the right thing,” Vice President JD Vance said following that meeting.
Congressional Democrats are refusing to give Republicans the votes they need to pass a short-term funding agreement, demanding overhauls to Medicaid cuts and extensions to health care tax credits that Republicans don’t want to touch.
There have been — since the 1977 fiscal year — 20 funding gaps, some for as short as a day, marking Wednesday’s shutdown the 21st.
The last shutdown began in December 2018, during Trump’s first term, and was the longest shutdown in history — 35 days. During that shutdown, some federal workers began showing up at food banks and many essential workers began to call in sick. Union officials said many of them couldn’t afford the childcare or the gas needed to get to work.
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By the time the government reopened in January 2019, about $3 billion in U.S. economic activity evaporated, never to be recovered, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Agencies have been slow over the last few days to release contingency plans, but some have warned of potential effects.
Millions would be without pay
During the shutdown, as many as 4 million federal employees, including some service members, could go without a paycheck. Hundreds of thousands — including airport security officers, air traffic controllers and certain members of the military — will be deemed essential workers and told to come to work anyway. ICE agents also go without pay. National parks could close and the Smithsonian museums also typically close within a few days.
Roughly 2 million troops could be forced to work without pay, including hundreds of members of the National Guard that Trump has deployed to U.S. cities.
Federal contractors, including hourly workers such as janitors and security guards, are not required to work and are also not guaranteed back pay. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill would continue to get paid their $174,000 annual salaries.
Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid continue to be distributed, though there can be slowdowns.
The FDA can’t ensure that the meat, milk and eggs of livestock are safe for people to eat.
Trump, top Democrats fail to make progress in averting looming shutdown
The Office of Management and Budget has not yet given a new estimate of how many federal workers are expected to go without pay or be furloughed if a shutdown were to happen this time around. However, OMB Director Russ Vought has threatened mass firings. Reductions in Force (RIFs) would be a drastic escalation from the fallout of past shutdowns. Democrats have called this an intimidation tactic.
It’s not just workers in and around Washington, D.C., who will feel the impacts. At least 85% of workers operate outside of the city (think federal prisons, courts, national parks, etc).
The Pentagon’s contingency plan
Some 2 million troops, including hundreds of National Guard members deployed to U.S. cities as part of Trump’s crackdown on crime, could be forced to work without pay next month due to the government shutting down without passing legislation to spare service members.
Most military personnel are on track to be paid Oct. 1, officials said Monday. But after that, troops would be at the mercy of negotiations on Capitol Hill, which remains at a stalemate.
If Congress can’t reach a deal early in the month to spare the troops as it’s done in the past, Defense Department personnel would be forced to go without pay for what appears to be the first time in decades. In 2018, Coast Guard personnel went without pay as employees of the Department of Homeland Security.
According to a contingency plan posted by the Pentagon over the weekend, all active-duty troops would be required to keep working. The plan says contracts can move forward too, but under increased scrutiny, with priority given to efforts to secure the U.S. southern border and build Trump’s U.S. missile shield, known as “Golden Dome.”
Middle East operations, depot maintenance, shipbuilding and critical munitions are also identified as priorities.
“The department will continue to defend the nation and conduct ongoing military operations,” the plan states.
“Military personnel on active duty, including reserve component personnel on Federal active duty, will continue to report for duty and carry out assigned duties,” the document later adds.
All federal employees are guaranteed back pay under the law once government spending resumes. During past shutdowns, some federal personnel struggled to continue reporting to work without the steady cash flow that can be used to pay for gas and child care.
About 25% of military families experience food insecurity, which is really a symptom of their broader financial stress, and about 25% of military families also report having less than $500 in savings, according to the National Military Family Association.
-AbcNews
