washington law.docx

7/27/2019 Washington Law.docx

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Absolutely everything you need toknow about how the governmentshutdown will workByBrad Plumer,Published: September 30 at 12:22 pmE-mail the writer

A government shutdown starting Tuesday, Oct. 1,is now upon us. The House and

Senate couldn't agree on a bill to fund the government, and time has run out.

The photograph is cleverly shot to make it look like the gates of the federal government are literally closing.

Neat, eh? (The Washington Post)

So... it's shutdown time. Let's take a look at how this will work.

Not all government functions will simply evaporate come Oct. 1 Social Security

checks will still get mailed, and veterans' hospitals will stay open. But many federalagencies will shut their doors and send their employees home, from the

Environmental Protection Agency to hundreds of national parks.

Here's a look at how a shutdown will work, which parts of the government will

close, and which parts of the economy might be affected.

Wait, what? Why is the federal government on the verge of shutting down?
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The fiscal crises will continue until morale improves. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). (Scott

Applewhite/AP)

Short answer: There are wide swaths of the federal government thatneed to be

funded each yearin order to operate. If Congress can't agree on how to fund them,

they have to close down. And, right now, Congress can't agree on how to fund them.

To get a bit more specific: Each year, the House and Senate are supposed to agree

on 12 appropriations bills to fund the federal agencies and set spending priorities.

Congress has becomereally bad at passing these bills, so in recent years they've

resorted to stopgap budgets to keep the government funded (known as "continuing

resolutions"). The last stopgap passed on March 28, 2013, and ends on Sept. 30.

In theory, Congress could pass another stopgap before Tuesday. But the

Democratic-controlled Senate and Republican-controlled Houseare at oddsoverwhat that stopgap should look like. The House passed a funding bill over the

weekend that delayed Obamacare for one year and repealed a tax on medical

devices. The Senate rejected that measure. They voted a few more times and still no

agreement. So...we're getting a shutdown.
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Does a shutdown mean everyone who works for the federal government has to go

home?

Not exactly. Thelaws and regulationsgoverning shutdowns separate federal workers

into "essential" and "non-essential." (Actually, the preferred term nowadays is

"excepted" and "non-excepted." This was tweaked in 1995 because "non-essential"

seemed a bit hurtful. But we'll keep things simple.)

The Office of Management and Budgetrecently orderedmanagers at all federal

agenciesto conduct reviewsto see which of their employees fall into each of these two

categories. If a shutdown hits, the essential workers stick around, albeit without

pay. The non-essential workers have to go home after a half-day of preparing to

close shop.

Which parts of government stay open?

Air traffic control stays open. (Jim Weber/AP)

There are a whole bunch of key government functions that carry on during a

shutdown, including anything related to national security, public safety, or

programs written into permanent law (like Social Security). Here's a partial list:

-- Any employee or office that "provides for the national security, including the

conduct of foreign relations essential to the national security or the safety of life
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and property." That means the U.S. military will keep operating, for one. So will

embassies abroad.

-- Any employee who conducts "essential activities to the extent that they protect

life and property." So, for example: Air traffic control stays open. So does all

emergency medical care, border patrol, federal prisons, most law enforcement,

emergency and disaster assistance, overseeing the banking system, operating the

power grid, and guarding federal property.

-- Agencies have to keep sending out benefits and operating programs that are

written into permanent law or get multi-year funding. That means sending out

Social Security checks and providing certain types of veterans' benefits.

Unemployment benefits and food stamps will also continue for the time being,

since their funding has been approved in earlier bills.

-- All agencies with independent sources of funding remain open, including the

U.S. Postal Service and the Federal Reserve.

-- Members of Congress can stick around, since their pay is written into permanent

law. Congressional staffers however, will also get divided into essential and non-

essential, with the latter getting furloughed. Many White House employees could

also get sent home.

Do these "essential" employees who keep working get paid?

The 1.3 million or so "essential" civilian employees who stay on could well see theirpaychecks delayedduring the shutdown, depending on the timing. They should,

however, receive retroactive pay if and when Congress decides to fund the

government again.

The 1.4 million active-service military members, meanwhile, will get paid no matter

how long the shutdown lasts. That's because the House and Senate

specificallypassed a billto guarantee active-duty military pay even when the

government is closed. Obama signed it into law Monday night.

So which parts of government actually shut down?
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Closed! Well, unless Arizona wants to pay to operate it. (Ron Watts / Corbios)

Everything else, basically. It's a fairly long list, and you can check out in detail

which activities the agencies are planning to haltin these contingency plansposted by

each agency. Here are a few select examples:
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