US government shuts down amid Mexican border wall row
The US government began a Christmas shutdown early Saturday Dec 22.2018, after Congress adjourned without passing a federal spending bill or addressing President Donald Trump's demand for money to build a border wall.
It is the third shutdown in two years of
unified Republican rule in Washington, and it will stop work at nine
federal departments and several other agencies.
Hundreds of thousands of
government employees are affected.
Any hope of a compromise ended about
8:30 p.m. Friday Dec 21,2018, when both the House and the Senate had adjourned with
no solution in sight
What’s open and what’s closed
Social Security checks will still go out. Troops will remain at their posts. Doctors and hospitals will get their Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. The U.S. Postal Service, busy delivering packages for the holiday season, is an independent agency and won’t be affected.
In fact, virtually every essential government agency, like the FBI, the Border Patrol and the Coast Guard, will remain open. Transportation Security Administration officers will continue to man airport checkpoints.
The air traffic control system, food inspection, Medicare, veterans’ health care and many other essential government programs will run as usual. The Federal Emergency Management Agency can continue to respond to disasters
What’s open and what’s closed
Social Security checks will still go out. Troops will remain at their posts. Doctors and hospitals will get their Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. The U.S. Postal Service, busy delivering packages for the holiday season, is an independent agency and won’t be affected.
In fact, virtually every essential government agency, like the FBI, the Border Patrol and the Coast Guard, will remain open. Transportation Security Administration officers will continue to man airport checkpoints.
The air traffic control system, food inspection, Medicare, veterans’ health care and many other essential government programs will run as usual. The Federal Emergency Management Agency can continue to respond to disasters
Nearly all of the Department of Homeland Security’s 240,000 employees will be at work because they’re considered essential.
The Special Counsel’s Office, which is investigating potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, will not be affected by a shutdown.
But hundreds of thousands of federal workers will be forced off the job, and some services will go dark. Even after funding is restored, the political repercussions could be enduring.
The Washington Monument and many other iconic park service attractions would close, as would museums along the National Mall
What will the shutdown mean?
About 380,000 government employees will be made to take temporary, unpaid leave.Meanwhile, 420,000 employees working in essential roles - considered necessary for the "protection of life and property" - will keep working, without being paid.
In practice, this means that:
- Customs and border staff will keep working, although their pay will be delayed. Airports will continue operating.
- About 80% of National Parks employees will be sent home, and parks could close - although some may stay open with limited staff and facilities.
- About 90% of housing department workers will take unpaid leave, which could delay loan processing and approvals.
- Most of the Internal Revenue Service will be sent on unpaid leave, including those who assist taxpayers with queries.
- The Food and Drug administration will pause routine inspections but "continue vital activities".
- About 90% of the Nasa space agency's staff could be sent home. However, Nasa says that in previous shutdowns it has kept enough personnel on to support the International Space Station as well as space missions that are in progress.
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