What Happens When the Government Shuts Down?

The federal government is set to run out of money on April 28, and unless Congress sends a spending package to President Donald Trump’s desk to be enacted before Friday ends, agencies will have to furlough workers in the first shutdown since October 2013.

The House likely won’t vote on a spending package until Thursday at the earliest, leaving the Senate with a small window — perhaps less than 24 hours — in which to hold a vote. While the Trump administration has said they "strongly believe" a lapse in funding won’t occur, as a precaution agencies are readying themselves for a lapse.

After all, it’s not a given that Congress will be able to reach an agreement — the spending bill will need to meet a 60-vote threshold in the Senate, which will require some Democratic support. Democrats have been pushing back on the Trump administration’s request to include funding for the border wall in this bill, although whether that proves to be the dealbreaker that leads to a government shutdown remains to be seen.

What happens if there’s a shutdown?

First of all, it would be a partial government shutdown, so it’s not as if the entire federal government would be shuttered. The military and federal law enforcement agencies would continue to do their job, and entitlement payments to Social Security and Medicare beneficiaries would still go out as usual.

Federal workers who are considered non-essential would be furloughed, meaning that they can’t work, although they have in the past received back pay following shutdowns. During the 2013 shutdown more than 818,000 federal workers were furloughed, which caused national parks to be closed and agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency to operate with only a small number of employees. Whether workers will be furloughed also depends on the status of an agency’s budget, as the State Dept. and Securities and Exchange Commission remained at full staff longer than other agencies during the last shutdown because of the funding they had leftover.

Tell your rep whether they should vote to fund the government and whether funding for the border wall should be included using the "Take Action" button.

Take Action

Have questions about politics? Let us know! Send us an email and you could see your answer in a future post.

— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: NPCA Photos via Flickr / Creative Commons)