US President-elect Donald Trump calls on US lawmakers to veto a stopgap bill to ensure the government continues to receive funding after Friday at the Capitol Hill in Washington, US, December 19, 2024, raising the possibility of a partial shutdown , followed by a view of the U.S. Capitol.
Anna Roseladen | Reuters
What is a government shutdown?
The Constitution gives Congress fiscal powers, which means nearly all government funding decisions take place on Capitol Hill. Each year, Congress must pass a spending bill before October 1, the start of the new fiscal year, otherwise the government will run out of money to keep operating.
If Congress fails to act by that date, the House and Senate can also pass legislation called a “continuing resolution” to keep the government fully operational for a short period of time. Congress did so back in September and set December 20 as the new deadline.
Now, Congress has until the end of Friday to act or funding will be cut off. Then, all non-essential government functions must cease.
How did Congress get to this point?
This is how the government spending process is designed: House and Senate Appropriations Committees should Pass more than a dozen spending bills A different federal agency is covered each year. The bills must then pass the House and Senate before going to the president to be signed into law.
This rarely happens in modern Congress. As is now customary, Congress did not have time in September to complete the process, so it passed a short-term funding extension.
Although Congress has known since the fall that the December 20 deadline was the Reach a deal to avoid shutdowns Until this week.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, announced the deal Tuesday night, reached by top congressional Republicans and Democrats. It would extend government funding until March 14 and provide financial aid to farmers and provide relief to areas hit by hurricanes. It also includes the first small pay increase for members of Congress in more than a decade, to a maximum of 3.8%.
Before the House vote was scheduled, Musk began posting negative comments about the bill to his more than 200 million followers on his platform X. Giveaways for Democrats and criticize some policy provisions, such as congressional pay raises.
Trump also made a last-minute request: that Congress legislate the debt ceiling. The country is not expected to hit its borrowing limit until sometime next year, but on Thursday, Trump tells NBC News he wants Congress to completely repeal debt ceiling.
House Republicans tried to pass a second bill to address Trump’s concerns but failed, with nearly all Democrats and 38 Republicans voting against it. Now, as the deadline approaches, they must figure out a new path.
When will the closure begin? How long can one persist?
Without last-minute action by Congress, the shutdown will begin at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, so its effects won’t be immediately felt until Monday.
It’s difficult to predict how long the shutdown will last, but given the divisiveness on Capitol Hill and the upcoming holidays, it could be around for a while if it happens. Republicans hold a slim majority in the House of Representatives and Democrats control the Senate. That will change on January 3, when Republicans take over both chambers of Congress, before Trump takes office on January 20.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Posted on X She will support shutting down the government until Inauguration Day.
Which sectors will be affected by the government shutdown?
During the government shutdown, the federal government will Unable to pay millions of employeesincluding military personnel and reservists, just before the holidays.
hundreds of thousands of government workers May be furloughedwhich means they will temporarily stop going to work. During the 2013 shutdown, approx. 850,000 workers Was furloughed. But even those who must continue to perform essential duties won’t be paid during the shutdown.
Federal workers will receive retroactive pay when the government reopens, but that wasn’t always guaranteed until Congress passed a law after the 2019 shutdown.
Some government functions will continue to exist, including the military and public safety, such as air traffic control and the Transportation Security Administration. Each federal agency creates a “contingency plan“Understand how things work and who works during the shutdown”except“Free from vacation.
For example, a Defense Department official told NBC News that the Department of Defense will require active duty military personnel to continue reporting for duty, and that inpatient care and urgent outpatient care at Pentagon medical facilities will continue during the shutdown.
Military retiree benefits will continue to be paid because they come from a separate trust fund rather than congressional appropriations, but payments may be slowed by a lack of staff to process them, the official said.
President Joe Biden and member of congress Everyone will continue to work and get paid because Legal requirements.
Will the shutdown affect benefits and payments like Social Security?
How long did the longest government shutdown last?
Congress has allowed funding to lapse multiple times over the past four decades, resulting in 20 shutdowns lasting at least a full day.
The longest shutdown is also the latest: The government shuts down 34 full days From December 21, 2018 to January 25, 2019.
National parks remained open during that closure, but Garbage starts to pile up Park employees furloughed. Transportation Security Administration employees were asked to continue working without pay and began calling in sick, causing delays at airports. this TSA administrators have issued a warning This year’s shutdown will result in longer waits before the holidays.
