WASHINGTON — The partial government shutdown that started Saturday is vastly different from the record closure in the fall.
That is mostly because the shutdown may not last long.
The House will try to pass funding legislation quickly when lawmakers return Monday, and that would end the shutdown. Congress already has passed half this year’s funding bills, ensuring that several important federal agencies and programs continue to operate through September. Nutrition assistance programs, for example, should be unaffected.
Funding will lapse, at least temporarily, for the Pentagon and agencies such as the departments of Homeland Security and Transportation. Essential functions will continue, but workers could go without pay if the impasse drags on. Some could be furloughed.
Why is there another shutdown?
The government funding process had been going smoothly, with key lawmakers in the House and Senate finding bipartisan agreement. But the shooting deaths this month of two U.S. citizens, Alex Pretti and Renée Good, by federal agents in Minneapolis, changed the dynamic.
Democrats were incensed after Pretti’s killing and demanded that one of the six remaining funding bills, for DHS and its associated agencies, be stripped from the package passed by the House. They said the bill must include changes to immigration enforcement, including a code of conduct for federal agents and a requirement that officers show identification.
Eager to avoid another shutdown, President Donald Trump’s White House struck a deal with Democrats to temporarily fund DHS at current levels for two weeks while the negotiations play out.
The Senate passed the five-bill funding package Friday, but it must pass the House again before becoming law. The House is not returning until Monday, ensuring funding will lapse for parts of the government, at least temporarily.
Have there been previous brief or weekend shutdowns?
Yes, and typically the effects were not very visible to anyone hoping to use government services.
There were a couple of these in Trump’s first administration.
In January 2018, a dispute over immigration protections resulted in a weekend shutdown. Some federal workers were furloughed or worked without pay. Benefits such as Social Security and Medicare were uninterrupted, many people did not notice the shutdown and federal offices reopened the following Monday after a deal was in place.
In February 2018, the shortest shutdown in U.S. history lasted about nine hours, overnight, and most people did not notice any impact. While agencies technically shut down after funding lapsed, it was so brief that furlough notices were not all sent out, and nothing was closed during business hours.
What funding is impacted?
The funding lapse affects the Pentagon and agencies such as the Transportation Department and DHS, which includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Experts have said FEMA should have enough money to respond to the massive winter storm still affecting large swaths of the country. FEMA would have about $7 billion to $8 billion in a fund for disaster response and recovery efforts and the staff who work on them. An extended shutdown could put more pressure on that fund, especially if FEMA must respond to new disasters.
Other FEMA operations, such as the ability to write or renew National Flood Insurance Program policies, would pause, as they did during last year’s 43-day shutdown.
That shutdown took a toll on the traveling public as delays and cancellations mounted, and there is now a risk of air travel disruptions again: One of the spending bills awaiting House passage covers the Department of Transportation, which is responsible for the air traffic control system and its workforce.
Air traffic controllers would still report for duty, but would be doing so without pay until a funding bill is passed.
At the State Department, the shutdown will not have a significant effect for the general public, in the United States or abroad.
Department employees were sent a 73-page memo late Friday that said passport and visa services and processing will continue and that embassies and consulates will remain open. Some functions, including nonemergency consular notifications and website updates, may be affected. But the memo said that 18,946 of the department’s 27,206 direct hire American employees are exempted from potential furloughs if the shutdown continues.
Will SNAP and other food assistance programs be affected?
No. That is a major change from the fall shutdown, when many people had to do with little-to-no assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program during the final weeks of the government closure. The bill to end that shutdown funded the Department of Agriculture and the programs that it administers through the remainder of the budget year, which ends Sept. 30.
That means full SNAP benefits will continue now. The federal food program serves about 42 million people, about 1 in 8 Americans, in lower-income households. They receive an average of around $190 monthly per person.
Another key program fully funded for the year is the federal supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children, known as WIC. It provides pregnant women and young children with healthy food and nutrition counseling.
Kinnard reported from Columbia, S.C. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report.
