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HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of US government defence workers, park rangers and business regulators could be temporarily out of work if Congress fails to pass a budget before a midnight deadline (5am Irish time).
But the looming government shutdown due to lack of funding – which would be the second in five years – does not mean every office closes its doors.
Vital services will still be provided by law enforcement, immigration officers, the central bank, veterans’ hospitals and the military.
During the two-week shutdown in October 2013, around 800,000 workers were furloughed.
This time, about 850,000 workers, out of a total 3.5 million, could be told to stay home – without pay – until Congress reaches an agreement, the American Federation of Government Employees estimates.
The following is a rundown of who is and isn’t affected in a government shutdown:
Defense, security and borders
The 1.5 million uniformed members of the US military, mostly in the Defense Department but also 40,000 with the Department of Homeland Security, will remain at work.
“All military personnel performing active duty will continue in a normal duty status,” the Pentagon ordered yesterday.
But a large number of civilians in both departments, including about three-fourths of the roughly 740,000 civilians who work for the Pentagon, will stay home.
That will slow many operations, and could impact the huge defense private sector, which depends on Pentagon contracts.
Officials of the Customs and Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and US Citizenship and Immigration Services will remain on the job checking and processing people entering the country by land, sea and air.
Key government operations
The White House, Congress, federal courts and the Veterans Administration will all continue to operate. The US Postal Service will continue to deliver the mail.
The investigation by special prosecutor Robert Mueller into possible collusion between Russians and President Donald Trump’s election campaign will remain active.
Washington
The US capital is funded by the federal budget and will be affected. Garbage services and street cleaning will halt and libraries will close. But schools and public transport will continue to operate.
Travel
The Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees air traffic control, will remain at work, and airports will remain open for travellers.
Parks and museums
According to tentative plans, national parks and museums will remain open, but some public employees at the parks could be furloughed while private contractors, who supply food and other services, will maintain operations.
Health
Disease monitoring and prevention will slow. About 61% of the staff of the Centers for Disease Control will be furloughed, according to The Washington Post, and much of the research-focused National Institutes of Health will be shuttered.
Other public services
Other agencies will largely shut down, including the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Education, the Commerce Department, the Labor Department, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
That means people and businesses will not get documents and permissions processed, contractors will have difficulty moving ahead on their projects, and disaster relief will slow.
A shutdown plan posted on the Treasury Department’s website shows that nearly 44% of the IRS’ 80,565 employees would be exempt from being furloughed during a shutdown.
That would mean nearly 45,500 IRS employees would be sent home just as the agency is preparing for the start of the tax filing season and ingesting the sweeping changes made by the new GOP tax law.
The Republican architects of the tax law have promised that millions of working Americans will see heftier paychecks next month, with less money withheld by employers in anticipation of lower income taxes. The IRS recently issued new withholding tables for employers.
But Marcus Owens, who for 10 years headed the IRS division dealing with charities and political organisations, said it’s a “virtual certainty” that the larger paychecks will be delayed if there’s a lengthy government shutdown.
With reporting from AP
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Say what you want about Ireland but at least we never have a shutdown whenever someone decides to have a hissy fit.
@Ken Loughman: if you don’t count the North, sure.
@Wastrel: Point taken. I forgot about the fourth green field.
@Ken Loughman: there’s not a lot to shut down to be fair. Would we really notice if the civil service or HSE shut down. They can’t answer a phone on a good day
@Al Coholic: Ahem – you’re responding to a civil servant…
@Ken Loughman: Watch his thumbs up , skyrocket .
@Al Coholic: I’m pretty sure we’d notice if all the hospitals and schools shut down. Yes they may provide a crap service but at least they’re open.
@Ken Loughman: libraries close and the army reserve don’t get their uniforms dry cleaned. Stressful.
@Ken Loughman: try grab him at work
@ForeverFeel1ng: hospitals are not effected in a shutdown
As of now America debt is circa 18 trillion. One of these days that might be a reality.
Congress has raised or suspended the debt ceiling 79 times since 1960, and every president since Harry S. Truman has signed into law at least one such bill.
They can’t put if off forever.
@Tweed Cap:
They’ve been exporting there debt for decades (petrodollars).
When the market dries up…..
Only a matter of time
@Isthatright:
All of our major tax intake eggs are in the blue chip US dollar basket. Tis grand so it is.
@Tweed Cap: you’re mixing things up .this is a federal government budget shutdown and is nothing to do with raising the debt ceiling level, that stand-off comes up in March.
@Diaspora’d:
I know what it is. The point I’m making is related to a much bigger issue.
Trump has promised to tackle the debt ceiling. However unless he can find a few trillion down the back of the sofa he’s going to kick the can. They can’t ever pay what they owe. Ever.
@Tweed Cap: unlike any other country in the world, the US national debt is denominated in the same currency that its own federal reserve prints. The national debt is close to $20T the vast majority of which is owed to its own citizens and corporations in the form of national security and bonds, foreigners like the Chinese own a chunk (about $1.2T) but nothing close to the debt to US entities and the last thing the Chinese need is a run on the US dollar. As far as oil goes the US is now one of the largest world producers.
@Tweed Cap: the creditors of most sovereign debt have as much to lose if their debtors defaulted, do I can’t see it happening any time soon
The Journal has completely gone Trump batshit crazy , how many articles this week involving him , 24 articles over 5 days , as we still have an hour to go , that’s 5 per day .
@Ken Hayden: yeah because nobody ever talked about the president of the us before trump was elected
@Ken Hayden: Maybe if Trump stopped doing crazy stuff, like playing chicken with the American economy, there would be less stories you would have to comment on about there being too many Trump stories.
@Larry Doyle: You’re not going to believe this but when I tried to upvote that you got a -1 green thumb count…
@Jason: I have the screen shot.. something wiggy going on with the thumbs tonight.. When I post I get an automatic thumbs up instantly…
@Ken Hayden:
Gonna be interesting when Trump is vindicated by Mueller and the 8th Amendment referendum is over I mean what the hell will Journal writers talk about?
On a positive note maybe then they might focus their attention on domestic politics and put Fine Gael under the microscope.
@FrankDapavia: Don’t panic , by then we will be reading about the massive increase in crime in multicultural London , of gun battles between Swedish soldiers and migrant gangs in Malmo , of how the crime rate has shot up in Germany and is directly linked to the influx of non documented migrants .
But as the likes of that would influence public opinion on important issues like unvetted migration , the failure to integrate by certain cultures and the incompatibility of islamic ideology , don’t expect 5 articles a day on it .
@Jason: very strange…….
Furlough!
About 25% of the journals output ?
Trump has said that the buck stops with the president
@Havana na na na: Right now he’s trying to get Democrats on to make up the numbers for Republicans he can’t get to vote for it… while still blaming them for the shutdown and for “hurting the military”… all in week where him trying to use DACA to get funding for his wall has backfired into the Dems using DACA as the price of votes he should already have as leader of the GOP….. What a stable genius…
Any chance Trump’s gob will shut down?
Can we please stop the winning? So much winning: I’m sick of it.
@Alan Carmody: I presume you meant whining?
Trumps none existing brain shuts down.
@Dalya Al-Tulaihi: Non
Golf clubs.
Three fourths? Quarters!
Donald’s brain shuts down.
The government has shut down and Trump is in Mar A Lago hosting a $100,000 per couple fundraiser/anniversary party
Watch the dollar value turn to dust……….
Making America great again!
Another Trump f-up, 100% his fault. Let’s see who will he blame for all this…?
I don’t understand this policy of shut down. We never have a shut down, in fact, I don’t know if any other country that has a shut down. Seems bonkers to me. Reps have the majority in both houses and the presidency but yet there is a shut down and so many people are held hostage by politicians! What a crazy way to run a country.
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