The Effects of the Government Shutdown
Shutdown will affect the lives of every federal worker
By Jack Greenspan
The Progressive Teen Contributor
A S PEOPLE GET READY FOR THE HOLIDAYS, many will be asking whether or not, with the government shutdown, NORAD will still be tracking Santa as he delivers gifts from house-to-house. Fortunately this service will still be up-and-running,but the same cannot be said for many other parts of the federal government.
Before delving into the effects of the shutdown, it is first instructive to examine why this shutdown occurred. Each year, the federal government passes a budget that appropriates funds to each department until the end of the fiscal year. This year, the deadline to renew appropriations, through the passage of a new federal budget, was December 21st at 11:59 PM. Since there is no federal budget in place for the next fiscal year, federal workers will not be receiving paychecks for their work from 12:00 AM on December 22nd to whenever new appropriations are made.
This specific government shutdown happened because of President Trump’s insistence that funding for a border wall be included in the budget. Currently, a budget that was passed by Congress includes some funding for a border wall, but Trump will not sign it unless he gets his $5 billion for the wall. Democrats have stated that they are willing to spend $1.6 billion on bolstered border security measures, such as fencing, but Trump has dug his heels in, stating that he is “proud to shut down the government for border security.”
The effects of the government shutdown depend on two variables: the functioning of the departments without funding and the length of the shutdown. According to a report by the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations, about 380,000 employees will not be on the job until the government reopens, including most employees at the Departments of Commerce, Housing and Urban Development, and the National Park Service. Additionally, about 420,000 federal employees will be working without pay until the government reopens. The employees who will not be working (or who will be “furloughed”) will not receive pay during this time, and employees who do work will not be given pay, unless Congress passes legislation to provide retroactive pay, which is not a guarantee.
These conditions will lead to many government services being temporarily shut down, but they should not have any long-term ramifications unless a deal is not agreed to in a timely manner. What Trump says about the shutdown is important, because his statements will indicate how long the shutdown will last. If the shutdown were to end within the next couple of days, government services will re-open with minimal damage to employees or consumers; however, if a prolonged shutdown were to take place, it could have larger consequences.
In a prolonged government shutdown, about 800,000 people would be working for weeks, or months, without a paycheck, leading to a strain on the economy, as this would mean that more than 0.5% of the U.S. workforce would be without a paycheck. This issue would not only mean that they would not be spending money in the economy as they usually would, but for many people without savings, it could be devastating. This problem could additionally affect federal contractors, who, depending on the nature of their job, may have to show up for work. However, unlike federal employees, it is purely up to their company as to whether or not they get paid.
The true effect of a government shutdown will depend on the type and length of a shutdown. Fortunately, legislation has passed that will provide pay for almost two-thirds of federal employees, including employees at the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, and Veterans Affairs, so there will be many services and employees that will be unaffected. Additionally, many employees will still be working, so essential services such as law enforcement, social security checks, and of course, the Santa Tracker, will still be up-and-running. The potential worry for federal employees and consumers will be if the government is closed for more than a couple of days. In this situation, many people who are living paycheck-to-paycheck will not receive that next paycheck, having an effect on them, their families, and the economy. Nobody knows what will happen next, but the government needs to come up with a compromise to restore funding to the government, and deliver paychecks to federal workers.
