As government shutdown looms, here's where federal workers would be most affected
Congressional leaders are scrambling to find a solution to averting a looming government shutdown after President-elect Donald Trump killed a bipartisan stopgap measure Wednesday by ordering Republicans to oppose it.
Like any home or business, the federal government must pay its bills. When Congress can’t agree on how to appropriate money for funding, the government shuts down.
Learn more: Details on shutdown.
Lawmakers reached a bipartisan agreement Tuesday on a continuing three-month resolution to prevent a shutdown and furlough thousands of federal employees over the holidays.
The bill is more than 1,500 pages long. It includes a variety of add-ons, among them more than $100 billion for disaster relief for states hit by hurricanes, health care measures to lower drug costs, and pay raises for members of Congress, Paste BN reported.
Current government funding expires Friday night when Congress is scheduled to adjourn for the holidays. If a funding bill is not passed by then, the shutdown would begin at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
Here’s what happens when shutdowns take place:
Where federal employees work
What happens during a government shutdown?
During a shutdown, hundreds of thousands of federal workers, those deemed nonessential, are furloughed, or sent home without pay.
Employees who are classified as essential for critical operations in defense, energy, agriculture, and other sectors would continue to work, but without pay. They are reimbursed later.
When have government shutdowns taken place?
The federal government has closed down 21 times since 1977, with a total of 162 days. That's an average of nearly eight days per shutdown.
The president with the highest number of shutdown days is Jimmy Carter, who had 56 days in five separate shutdowns from 1977 to 1979. Bill Clinton is third with 26 days in a single year in 1995.
An analysis shows the longest shutdown, 35 days, took place under President Donald Trump, who had a total of 38 days of closure.
"Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH," Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance wrote in a joint statement Wednesday. "If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF."
Trump later threatened Republican lawmakers who ignore his priorities on the government funding fight with primary opposition next election, Paste BN reported.
CONTRIBUTING Savannah Kuchar, Fernando Cervantes Jr., Paste BN
SOURCE Paste BN Network reporting and research; Reuters