Every year, Congress must pass and President sign budget legislation for the federal government. This includes appropriations bills that fund agencies, programs, and services, such as national parks, food-safety inspections, processing passports, issuing business loans or subsidies, maintaining the U.S. Postal Service, and providing federal grants to local governments. If funding lapses, those activities stop and the federal workforce is impacted. Federal employees deemed essential (such as TSA agents, air traffic controllers, and law enforcement personnel) stay on the job without pay, while those whose work is not essential and funded by annual appropriations bills (such as social security administration staff, some FDA and CDC workers) are furloughed and not paid until funding resumes.
A few programs that are funded through permanent user fees, such as Medicare and Medicaid, continue, but customer service wait times at the Social Security Administration (SSA) can grow and other services are impacted. A shutdown could also disrupt $13 billion a week in federal contracts awarded to private businesses, with resulting lost revenue and potential job losses for those businesses and unmet needs in communities that depend on their services.
During the last shutdown, the CDC stopped routine inspections of food facilities, increasing public health risks; the National Park Service ceased trash collection and road repairs, leading to unsafe and overcrowded campgrounds; museums closed; and immigration court hearings were canceled, exacerbating existing backlogs. As a result, cities experienced a loss of services and revenue and federal employees missed paychecks. With the looming shutdown, cities should make their voices heard and share with Congress their concerns and the impacts on their residents.
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