Factbox: What happens in a U.S. government shutdown?

 

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R) and Republican leaders leave after a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 18, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

 

(Reuters) - President Donald Trump and the U.S. Congress are racing to meet a midnight Friday deadline to pass a short-term bill to keep the U.S. government open and prevent agencies from shutting down.

 

In shutdowns, nonessential government employees are often furloughed, or placed on temporary unpaid leave. Workers deemed essential, including those dealing with public safety and national security, keep working, some with pay and others without.

 

After previous government shutdowns, Congress passed measures to ensure that essential and nonessential employees received retroactive pay.

 

The last shutdown, in October 2013, lasted more than two weeks and more than 800,000 federal employees were furloughed. Here is what happened then, along with some recent updates from officials:

 

MILITARY: The Defense Department said on Friday that a shutdown would not affect the U.S. military's war in Afghanistan or its operations against Islamist militants in Iraq and Syria. All military personnel on active duty would remain on normal duty status.

Civilian personnel in nonessential operations would be furloughed. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said a sustained funding impasse would cause ships to go without maintenance and aircraft to be grounded.

 

JUSTICE: The Justice Department has many essential workers. Under its shutdown contingency plan, about 95,000 of the department's almost 115,000 staff would keep working.

 

FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT: The stock market-policing Securities and Exchange Commission funds itself by collecting fees from the financial industry, but its budget is set by Congress. It has said in the past it would be able to continue operations temporarily in a shutdown. But it would have to furlough workers if Congress went weeks before approving new funding.

 

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, meanwhile, would have to furlough 95 percent of its employees immediately. An agency spokeswoman said the derivatives regulator could, however, call in additional staff in the event of a financial market emergency.

 

NATIONAL PARKS: National parks closed in 2013 and it resulted in a loss of 750,000 daily visitors, said the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association. The National Park Service (NPS) estimated the shutdown resulted in $500 million in lost visitor spending in areas around the parks and the Smithsonian museums. The Trump administration has asked the NPS to examine ways to keep portions of some parks open, but overnight visitors might have to pack out their own trash, the Washington Post reported.

 

WASHINGTON TOURIST SIGHTS: In 2013, popular tourist sites such as the Smithsonian closed, with barricades going up at the Lincoln Memorial, the Library of Congress and the National Archives. The National Zoo closed and its popular "Panda Cam" went dark. The Smithsonian has said its museums could remain open for the first weekend. The NPS, which oversees many Washington landmarks, including the National Mall, has said it has a plan in place so that "First Amendment activities" can continue during a shutdown.

 

TAXES: The Internal Revenue Service furloughed 90 percent of its staff in 2013, the liberal Center for American Progress said. About $4 billion in tax refunds were delayed as a result, according to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

 

MAIL DELIVERY: Deliveries would continue as usual because the U.S. Postal Service receives no tax dollars for day-to-day operations.

 

TRAVEL: Air and rail travelers did not feel a big impact in 2013 because security officers and air traffic controllers remained at work. Passport processing continued with some delays.

 

COURTS: The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts has said federal courts, including the Supreme Court, could continue to operate normally for about three weeks without additional funding.

 

HEALTHCARE: Sign-ups for the newly created Obamacare health insurance exchanges began as scheduled in 2013. The Medicare health insurance programme for the elderly continued largely without disruption. A programme at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to track flu outbreaks was temporarily halted. Hundreds of patients could not enroll in National Institutes of Health clinical trials, according to the OMB.

 

CHILDREN: Six Head Start programs in Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina serving about 6,300 children shut for nine days, the OMB said.

 

SOCIAL SECURITY: Social Security and disability checks were issued in 2013 with no change in payment dates and field offices remained open but offered limited services. There were delays in the review process for new applicants.

 

LOANS: Processing of mortgages and other loans was delayed when lenders could not access government services such as income and Social Security number verification. The Small Business Administration was unable to process about 700 applications for $140 million in loans until the shutdown ended, OMB said.

 

VETERANS: Most employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs would not be subject to furlough. VA hospitals would remain open and veterans' benefits would continue, but education assistance and case appeals would be delayed, the department said.

 

FOOD INSPECTIONS: Department of Agriculture meat inspectors stayed on the job. Agricultural statistical reports ceased publication. The USDA's website went dark.

 

ENERGY: The Department of Energy said on Friday that since most of its appropriations are for multiple years, employees should report to work as normal during a shutdown until told otherwise. If there was a prolonged lapse in funding a "limited number" of workers may be placed on furlough.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-01-20

 

So much info again. The real answer is. It gets better.

 

The United States has always lived with money they did not have... 

39 minutes ago, Get Real said:

So much info again. The real answer is. It gets better.

 

Life goes on .....

 

 

Maybe the US government should start a Crowd Funding page to help them stay open, or they could have a sale to get some cash in....

40 minutes ago, Caps said:

Maybe the US government should start a Crowd Funding page to help them stay open, or they could have a sale to get some cash in....

They have the biggest crowd funding program as it is.

The counterfeiting of credit is the issuance of debt without means or intent to repay it. 
When this becomes the basis for the currency, economic collapse becomes just a matter of time.

56 minutes ago, Scott said:

They have the biggest crowd funding program as it is.

That's right. 

Called the IRS 

58 minutes ago, Topdoc said:

The counterfeiting of credit is the issuance of debt without means or intent to repay it. 
When this becomes the basis for the currency, economic collapse becomes just a matter of time.

Fortunately, for the USA, since it borrows in its own currency, this isn't a problem.

Trump stated in 2013 that shutdowns are the fault of the president. Can't argue with that.

2 hours ago, pegman said:

Trump stated in 2013 that shutdowns are the fault of the president. Can't argue with that.

In this case we can. 

Trump is putting Veterans before illegals. 

48 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

In this case we can. 

Trump is putting Veterans before illegals. 

The US economy has been growing steadily for the past 9 years, the United States is strong enough take care of both dreamers & Vets, there's no need to purge one group in order for the other to survive.

1 hour ago, Boon Mee said:

In this case we can. 

Trump is putting Veterans before illegals. 

 

In this case, Donny John is putting himself before the US government as he prances off to his "look at me" gala this weekend at Mar-a-Lago instead of working out a shutdown fix like the rest of the Senators and Congressmen will do this weekend.

 

Nope, Donny John doesn't care a bit. He just wants an ego stroking party. Sorry Donny John. The stench of failure will follow you.

 

Trump Whines: Shutdown Fight Could Make Me Miss ‘My Party’

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-whines-shutdown-fight-could-make-me-miss-my-party

For all the US expats in Thailand needing documents notarized at the embassy to extend their yearly visa's in the next few weeks, I hope the citizen services remains open. 

 

I don't even reside there and the mango Mussolini still manages to F up my life. 

 

Thanks Trump. 

In 2013 under a Democratic president and GOP controlled House, Trump said that the blame for the shutdown rests entirely on the president for not leading the country. 

 

That especially applies now when there's  a GOP president and GOP controlled House and Senate. 

 

Since he's a self-proclaimed stable genius, you know he's right. 

 

 

https://crooksandliars.com/cltv/2018/01/donald-trump-blames-government

10 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

In this case we can. 

Trump is putting Veterans before illegals. 

illegals?   You display such compassion for people.  But what would one expect from a man that uses a horses rear for an avatar?

19 hours ago, lannarebirth said:

 

Life goes on .....

 

 

Yes life goes on and everyone gets back pay, government employees and civilian contractors, social security checks have gone out for this month.

 

Its like getting laid off then rehired with full back pay for the time you were off work.

 

Notice more have blue letters than red.

17 hours ago, ilostmypassword said:

Fortunately, for the USA, since it borrows in its own currency, this isn't a problem.

And obama was the biggest barrower of money almost 12 trillion dollars but somehow that will be bushes fault.

I think what you are saying is the us just prints more money. But not being an american you wouldn't know that. (Defending you not trashing you)

 

It is like someone saying: i cant be out of money, i still have checks left.

13 hours ago, siamike said:

The US economy has been growing steadily for the past 9 years, the United States is strong enough take care of both dreamers & Vets, there's no need to purge one group in order for the other to survive.

One is legal the other is not. Which one is the American public obligated to support?

On 19-1-2018 at 11:14 PM, rooster59 said:

In shutdowns, nonessential government employees are often furloughed, or placed on temporary unpaid leave. Workers deemed essential, including those dealing with public safety and national security, keep working, some with pay and others without.

So how many are given furlough and how many are sent home without salary? 

 

In Dutch, verlof  (of which furlough is derived) generally implies paid leave and if its unpaid leave this is commonly explicitly made clear: onbetaald verlof (unpaid furlough).

 

But furlough with continued payment of salaries would eat up the remaining money much faster than simply not paying the government employees. 

The NFL playoffs will go on as normal so in answer to the OP title

Absolutely Nothing

5 hours ago, PhonThong said:

One is legal the other is not. Which one is the American public obligated to support?

Why do you insist that America must choose one or the other?   America is thriving with both groups living in harmony within the US borders.

35 minutes ago, siamike said:

Why do you insist that America must choose one or the other?   America is thriving with both groups living in harmony within the US borders.

Because I choose not to support illegals with my tax dollars.  Coming from a state with too many illegals, I can assure you we are not all living in harmony. The jails are full of illegals and some are even Dreamers. 

Anyway, these things don't tend to go on for too long. If for no other reason than by the second week people begin to realize it has zero effect on their lives. The government can't have you thinking that.

21 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

In this case we can. 

Trump is putting Veterans before illegals. 

Why do you keep on repeating wh rhetoric? What happened to independent thinking?

21 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

In this case we can. 

Trump is putting Veterans before illegals. 

This video seems to offer evidence that you are sadly mistaken.