US shutdown explained
The prospects of a swift end to the partial paralysis of the United States government seem slim. What happens in a shutdown, and how are public servants, citizens and tourists affected?
With United States President Donald Trump still refusing to budge in his demand for billions of dollars from Congress for a border wall, the government shutdown is heading into its 11th day today.
WHAT’S OPEN AND WHAT’S CLOSED
Social security payments will go out, and troops will remain at their posts. Doctors and hospitals will receive their Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. The US Postal Service is an independent agency and won’t be affected.
Virtually every essential government agency, including the FBI, the Border Patrol and the Coast Guard, will remain open. Transportation Security Administration officers will staff airport checkpoints.
The air traffic control system, food inspection, Medicare, veterans’ healthcare and many other government programmes will run as usual. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and Environmental Protection Agency can continue to respond to disasters.
Nearly 90 per cent of the Department of Homeland Security’s 240,000 employees will be at work, because they’re considered essential.
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s office, which is investigating potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, is unaffected by a shutdown. But in New York, the chief judge of Manhattan federal courts has suspended work on civil cases involving US government lawyers, including several civil lawsuits in which Trump himself is a defendant.
As hundreds of thousands of federal workers are forced off the job, some services will go dark.
In the past, most national parks were closed to visitors and campers, but since the previous government shutdown, last January, the Interior Department has tried to make parks as accessible as possible, despite bare-bones staffing. Some are staying open thanks to funding from states and charitable groups.
In Washington, popular museums, art galleries and the National Zoo have remained open by using unspent funds, but the money is running out and they will close later this week if the shutdown continues.
FEDERAL WORKERS STILL GET PAID – EVENTUALLY
While they can be kept on the job, federal workers won’t be paid for days worked during the lapse in funding. In the past, they have been repaid retroactively even if they were ordered to stay home. The Senate has already passed legislation ensuring back pay. The House seems sure to follow suit.
But government contractors won’t get paid for the time they lose staying home, causing problems for those who rely on hourly wages.
Roughly 420,000 workers were deemed essential and are working unpaid, unable to take any sick days or leave, including about 40,000 law enforcement and corrections officers.
An additional 380,000 are staying home without pay. They include nearly all those from Nasa and Housing and Urban Development, and about 40,000 from the Commerce Department.
About 16,000 National Park Service employees – 80 per cent of its workforce – are on temporary leave, as are 52,000 at the Internal Revenue Service, slowing analysis and collection of hundreds of thousands of tax returns and audits.
SHUTDOWNS HAPPEN
Shutdowns happened every year when Jimmy Carter was president, averaging 11 days each. During Ronald Reagan’s two terms, there were six shutdowns, typically just one or two days apiece.
Before a three-day lapse last January, the most recent significant shutdown was for 16 days in 2013. That came as Tea Party conservatives tried to block implementation of president Barack Obama’s healthcare law. –