What a government shutdown could mean

policy

Congress has until midnight Friday to give you a option to fund the federal government or else federal agencies will probably be shut down, meaning a whole bunch of hundreds of federal staff could possibly be sent home just before the vacations — or stay on the job without pay.

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Republicans on Wednesday abandoned a bipartisan plan to forestall a shutdown after President-elect Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk spoke out against it. Trump urged House Speaker Mike Johnson to essentially renegotiate the deal just days before a deadline when federal funding runs out.

Here's what it’s best to learn about a possible government shutdown, which agencies can be affected, and the way long it could last:

What does it mean when the federal government shuts down?

A government shutdown occurs when Congress passes neither temporary nor everlasting laws to fund the federal government and such motion is just not signed by the President.

When would a government shutdown begin?

If Congress doesn’t adopt one other resolution or a more everlasting spending measure by Friday, the federal government will shut down.

When the fiscal yr ended on September 30, Congress passed a brief funding bill to maintain the federal government running.

This measure expires on Friday.

Which government agencies can be affected by a shutdown?

Each federal agency sets its own plan for handle a shutdown, but essentially all government operations deemed nonessential are halted and a whole bunch of hundreds of federal employees are seeing their jobs disrupted.

Sometimes staff are furloughed, meaning they keep their jobs but temporarily don’t work until the federal government reopens. Other federal staff may remain on the job but without pay, with the expectation that they’ll get their full salary back when the federal government reopens.

The basic rules for who works and who doesn't date back to the early Nineteen Eighties and haven't modified much since then. According to a precedent-setting memorandum from then-President Ronald Reagan According to Budget Chief David Stockman, federal employees are exempt from leave if their jobs are related to national security or in the event that they perform essential activities that “protect life and property.”

Key government agencies comparable to the FBI, Border Patrol and Coast Guard remain open. Transportation Security Administration officials would proceed to staff airport checkpoints. The US Postal Service may also not be affected since it is an independent agency.

But national parks and monuments can be closed, and while troops remained at their posts, many civilian employees in agencies just like the Defense Department can be sent home. Court systems would even be affected as civil cases can be placed on hold while prosecutions proceed.

Automated tax collection would remain on course, however the Internal financial service would stop auditing tax returns.

Will a government shutdown affect Social Security checks?

No. Social Security and Medicare recipients would proceed to receive their advantages, that are a part of mandatory spending not subject to annual appropriations measures. Doctors and hospitals would also proceed to receive their Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements.

However, it is feasible that recent applications is not going to be processed. During a government shutdown in 1996, hundreds of Medicare enrollees were turned away each day.

What is a “CR” or ongoing solution?

When it involves passing measures to finance the federal government in Congress, the term “CR” is usually mentioned. What does it mean?

“CR” stands for “Continuing Resolution” and is a brief spending bill that permits the federal government to stay open and operational until Congress and the President conform to a more everlasting appropriation.

A “clean CR” is actually a bill that expands existing funding at the identical level because the previous fiscal yr.

What is a collective invoice?

It's a large, all-encompassing measure that lawmakers generally had little time to digest — or understand — before voting on it.

There are lots of spending measures rolled into one, and sometimes that happens when the handfuls of individual funding measures don't make it through Congress's spending process in time to pass and fund the federal government.

But Republicans opted against an omnibus this time and as a substitute hoped to renegotiate all federal spending next yr, when Trump is within the White House and they’ll control each chambers of Congress.

Will there be a government shutdown?

Maybe – and possibly not.

There is usually a scramble on Capitol Hill to place together a last-minute funding package to maintain the federal government open, not less than temporarily, near a deadline. But closures have occurred, most recently six years ago when Trump called for funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. This shutdown was the one longest within the history of the USA.

Jimmy Carter There was a shutdown yearly during his term as president. And there have been six closures during Reagan's time within the White House.



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