Millions of government workers would not be paid if the federal government shuts down this weekend, and activity at many agencies that need federal funding will either slow down or cease completely.
However, Social Security payments would continue to be made.
The shorter-term continuing-resolution measures that have kept the government running in recent years amid political stalemate in Washington do not pay Social Security, which is regarded as a necessary program.
Social Security benefits are paid to over 72.8 million people each month. Retirees receive the majority of such payments, but disabled individuals and the dependents of dead pensioners also receive them.
Benefit checks will continue to be sent, but if SSA staff start to be furloughed, those who need to get in touch with the agency for help may have to wait longer. It would also have an impact on new card issuance, processing overpayments, and benefit verifications.
Since House Republicans opposed boosting SSA money in the September continuing resolution, personnel at the agency is already at a 50-year low.
While they wouldn’t be impacted immediately, other government welfare programs might be if a closure continues.
Benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, would be available to recipients for 30 days. Furloughs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which runs SNAP, might then start to impact benefits distribution once the program began to rely on reserve cash.
Those who receive aid under the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC, may be the most vulnerable. The majority of those receiving aid under this program are low-income pregnant women, new moms, and their infants and young children.
There is typically only a certain amount of emergency funds available for this program, after which WIC officials start to prioritize assistance for those who need it the most.
Shutdowns have previously impacted numerous other government services. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget claims that during the 2013 closure, the Environmental Protection Agency stopped inspecting 1,200 sites while the Food and Drug Administration postponed about 900 inspections. National park operations were also severely impacted: according to the group, damage and trash accumulation were reported at numerous locations, and although many parks remained open, no tourist services were offered.
With the hectic holiday traveling season ramping up, air travel may be the area most affected this time. Many travelers had longer wait times during the 2018–2019 shutdown as a result of Transportation Security Administration agents not showing up for work and ground pauses at major airports, such as LaGuardia in New York, due to a lack of air traffic controllers.
A TSA representative warned in a statement that a lengthy shutdown may result in lengthier airport wait times and that its employees would be working unpaid while managing record volumes for Christmas and New Year’s.
A prolonged closure would eventually start to hurt the economy. The Congressional Budget Office calculated that the longest shutdown, which lasted for 35 days from December 22, 2018, to January 25, 2019, cost the American economy at least $11 billion in direct costs, with indirect costs more difficult to measure.
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