It's time for a civics lesson.
If you think this shutdown won’t really affect you at some point, I kindly ask that you review this thread and get yourself familiar with what the nine agencies that are shutdown does to keep the engine of this government running. Yup, this diary is pretty long and I worked on it all day because I haven’t found not one article or news report that provided a full accounting of the impacted agencies in one place — so enjoy (or not...)
All government work is essential.
Billing this federal government shutdown as partial, (because six of the biggest agencies are fully funded, or because those who are furloughed are excepted out or who have been otherwise deemed essential must work) leads many to perhaps think that government can still effectively and sufficiently function with little to no noticeable disruption to the American way of life.
It’s time to have a little primer on just how our government works and why a prolonged partial government shutdown will make all government work essential to the very functioning of our Republic.
Think of this as your car. You may keep ¾’s of your gas tank full to keep your car running, but what will happen if you haven’t been changing your oil and air filters…
The United States Government, in addition to the Vice President, has 15 executive branches:
Department of Agriculture
Department of Commerce
Department of Defense
Department of Education
Department of Energy
Department of Health and Human Services
Department of Homeland Security
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Department of Interior
Department of Justice
Department of Labor
Department of State
Department of Transportation
Department of Treasury
Department of Veterans Affairs
The Departments bolded are the ones that are open because Congress has already provided funding through the end of Federal Fiscal Year 2019 (ending September 30th). In other words, Congress provided a full year apportionment as they normally are expected to do for those branches of government that represents 75% of government spending. The other nine agencies have been operating on a ‘CR’ or continuing resolution in lieu of being fully funded until those funds ran out at midnight, December 21, 2018.
So some may say, well, the government is mostly funded and operational and this is just a mere inconvenience that the other 25% is not. Because of course if they were really ‘essential’, Congress would have made it a priority to fund them too, right?
So. You keep on filling your tank ¾’s full of gas, but you don’t bother to change your oil. Your engine consist of all 15 government agencies running efficiently and effectively and that oil is starting to get a bit gummy…
On Friday, January 4, 2019, the Washington Post ran an article that started to hint on what the effects of a prolonged shutdown would mean to our country:
The Trump administration, which had not anticipated a long-term shutdown, recognized only this week the breadth of the potential impact, several senior administration officials said. The officials said they were focused now on understanding the scope of the consequences and determining whether there is anything they can do to intervene.
Thousands of federal programs are affected by the shutdown, but few intersect with the public as much as the tax system and the Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the current version of food stamps.
The partial shutdown has cut off new funding to the Treasury Department and the USDA, leaving them largely unstaffed and crippling both departments’ ability to fulfill core functions.
The potential cuts to food stamps and suspension of tax refunds illustrate the compounding consequences of leaving large parts of the federal government unfunded indefinitely — a scenario that became more likely Friday when President Trump said he would leave the government shut down for months or even years unless Democrats gave him money to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The Philadelphia Inquirer ran a similar piece the day before that is a sample of how the shutdown affects their area (the same can be said across the nation):
- Missed pay for federal workers
- Closures and lack of staffing at national parks and museums
- Immigration, open and closed
- FDA pauses regulatory work, inspections
- Weather reports continue, but meteorologists aren’t getting paid
- Efforts by the EPA face serious constraints
- Mortgage seekers could face delays
- Court operations could be curtailed
- Food stamps, WIC covered at least through end of January
- No tax refunds
- PHA operating on contingency funding
- Essential workers on the job at airports
- Section 8 drawing on previously appropriated funds
- State pension funds could take a hit
- Benefits and drawbacks for private cultural institutions
To put things in further perspective, let’s look at how this ‘partial shutdown’ is really impacting the nation:
- Economic impacts: $1.2B/week in economic losses
- No loan processing of Small Business Administration loans for start ups
- Business who heavily rely on government contracts with affected agencies will be impacted
- Landlords who lease space to government agencies through GSA may become impacted under a prolonged shutdown in terms of property valuation
- Cities and States with a large presence of federal workers impacted by the shutdown will feel the effects
Wallethub.com https://wallethub.com/edu/government-shutdown-report/1111/ has the best breakdown by state and category of how the shutdown is impacting the country.
- The most impacted states are DC, New Mexico, Maryland, Hawaii, Alaska and Virginia in that order.
- The contractor dollars (per capita) most impacted by the shutdown are in DC, Maryland, Virginia, New Mexico and Connecticut in that order.
- The highest % of families receiving SNAP assistance are in DC, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oregon and Louisiana in that order.
- Red states are slightly more impacted by the shutdown than blue states.
It may also be useful to understand what the other nine agencies actually does so that you can decide for yourself how this partial shutdown will start to affect you (courtesy of AllGov.com – NOTE: I used this site for a quick and short overview of what each Department does and deliberately left out the commentary on what does or doesn’t work and why):
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Department of Agriculture
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is a cabinet-level agency that oversees the American farming industry. USDA duties range from helping farmers with price support subsidies, to inspecting food to ensure the safety of the American public. The department seeks to expand overseas markets for U.S. agricultural products and support international economic development; provide financing needed to create jobs; improve housing, utilities and infrastructure in rural America; and improve nutrition and health by providing food assistance and education.
Impacts: Food inspection services are considered essential and those services will continue (with workers not receiving pay). According to Agriculture.com, the following services have been discontinued because of the government shutdown:
- USDA Farm Service Agency county offices will close at the end of business on Friday, December 28, 2018.
- Provision of new rural development loans and grants for housing, community facilities, utilities, and businesses.
- Recreation sites across the U.S. National Forest System, unless they are operated by external parties under a recreational special use permit, will be closed. While technically closed, many will still be physically accessible to visitors at their own risk, but without staffing at ranger stations and without access to facilities such as public restrooms.
- New timber sales.
- Most forest fuels reduction activities in and around communities.
- NASS statistics, World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report, and other agricultural economic and statistical reports and projections.
- Assistance for the control of some plant and animal pests and diseases unless funded by cooperators or other nonappropriated sources.
- Research facilities except for the care for animals, plants, and associated infrastructure to preserve agricultural research.
- Provision of new grants or processing of payments for existing grants to support research, education, and extension.
- ERS Commodity Outlook Reports, Data Products, research reports, staff analysis, and projections. The ERS public website would be taken offline.
- Most departmental management, administrative and oversight functions, including civil rights, human resources, financial management, audit, investigative, legal and information technology activities.
- Mandatory Audits (Financial Statements, FISMA, and potentially Improper Payments) will be suspended and may not be completed and released on the date mandated by law.
CNBC provides key information:
“With some functions of the U.S. Department of Agriculture suspended, the fast-moving agriculture industry has gone without some data and services it relies on.
The USDA announced Friday that it would not release several key reports including the monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates.
"Due to the government shutdown, farmers and ranchers have limited market information that can be used for these price discovery and risk management operations of their business," Mace Thornton, spokesman for the American Farm Bureau Federation, said via email. "Farmers and ranchers rely on government reports from USDA as they manage their businesses on a day-to-day basis."
Thornton said the closure of local Farm Service Agency offices has posed problems for farmers because they can't apply for new loans or receive payments for relief from U.S.-China trade tensions.”
It should be noted that some private, industry supported agencies can provide some information, but they don’t have the resources that the federal government has to provide the breath of data on a sustainable basis.
The Wyoming Livestock Roundup reports that ”A partial federal government shutdown would cost the U.S. at least $300 million a day in lost economic output at the start, according to IHS Inc”.
Department of Commerce
The Department of Commerce focuses on promoting American businesses both in the United States and overseas. The department also gathers economic and demographic data to measure the well-being of the economy, promotes U.S. exports, enforces international trade agreements, regulates the export of sensitive goods and technologies, and issues patents and trademarks. But then there are Commerce’s non-business duties, such as overseeing scientific data that helps forecast the weather and determine the health of the world’s oceans.
Impacts: The Wall Street Journal and Reuters have reported that the Bureau of Economic Analysis and Census Bureau are not publishing economic data, including key figures on gross domestic product, inflation, personal income, spending, trade and new home sales, during the shutdown. The Associated Press discusses the prolonged effects of a government shutdown:
“Kevin Hassett, chairman of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, told reporters Thursday that he doesn’t foresee “big economic effects” from the shutdown, assuming it ends relatively soon. Congress has already signaled that it plans to follow past practice and eventually restore lost pay for all furloughed workers.
But some of the work that isn’t getting done is already having an effect in the financial sector. Employees at the Commerce Department, who produce a range of economic reports — from home sales and durable goods orders to trade deficits and the gross domestic product — have been furloughed. That means those economic reports aren’t coming out, making it harder for both private analysts and those at the Federal Reserve to evaluate the economy as it slows from last year’s stellar growth to more modest gains.
Even when the shutdown eventually ends, key economic reports will be further delayed as government statisticians try to process a backlog of data.
“Government workers will work overtime to catch up, but I worry about the quality of the reports, and that means they could be subject to bigger revisions that will make accurate forecasting harder to do,” said Sung Won Sohn, chief economist at SS Economics.”
Department of Homeland Security
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for ensuring the safety and security of the United States from terrorist attacks and other disasters. Created in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, DHS has largely focused on federal preparations to deal with terrorism while trying to manage other duties, including border security, customs and emergency management.
Impacts: According to Homeland Security Today, DHS is affected in the following ways:
The law enforcement functions of DHS and its related components will remain largely unaffected by the shutdown, including the operation of the Border Patrol, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Coast Guard, Transportation and Security Administration, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to a DHS advisory issued on Dec. 17.
The shutdown nearly freezes the DHS Science & Technology Directorate, which remains in operation with a skeleton crew of 23 federal employees. But that doesn’t mean that cybersecurity will go unguarded over the holidays. The recently founded Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which currently has 3,531 employees, will keep more than 2,000 on board during the appropriations lapse.
The following functions have ceased operating:
Planning (such as strategic, business, or budgetary activities)
- Research and development activities
- Most policy functions, administrative as well as programmatic, unless those functions can be justified by the above exceptions
- Auditing
- Regulatory, legislative, public affairs and intergovernmental affairs
- Most training and development
However, note that for the functions deemed essential, those workers are not being paid. Many outlets have been reporting that TSA agents have been calling in sick: https://www.vox.com/2019/1/5/18169683/tsa-agents-skip-work-government-shutdown-pay
Airport security workers around the country are opting to call in sick rather than work without pay, widening the ripple effects of the partial government shutdown to include travelers and everyday Americans.
According to union leaders, hundreds of employees with the Transportation Security Administration called out of work at major airports across the country this week, with TSA officials acknowledging the uptick in absent employees on Friday.
And while officials say it hasn’t affected the quality of security measures, airline travelers may start feeling the burdens of the political showdown between President Donald Trump and lawmakers.
”Wait times may be affected depending on the number of call outs,” a TSA spokesperson said in a statement this week, adding that the screenings will “remain well within TSA standards.” Airport checkpoints must take a maximum of 30 minutes for regular screenings, and 10 minutes for premium passengers. As of Thursday, average screening times still met those markers, officials said.
DHS is now blasting these reports and CNN in particular as being ‘fake news’, however only time will tell.
Department of Housing and Urban Development
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) oversees federal programs designed to help Americans meet their housing needs. HUD seeks to increase homeownership, support community development and increase access to affordable housing free from discrimination. The agency enforces a swath of federal housing laws, operates mortgage-supportive initiatives and distributes millions of dollars in federal grants.
Impacts: NBC news is reporting on how a prolonged shutdown will affect the most vulnerable Americans:
“Most of HUD’s routine enforcement activities have been suspended, including mandatory health and safety inspections of housing for low-income families, the elderly and people with disabilities, according to the shutdown contingency plan that HUD posted on its website. Public housing officials say they don’t know how long rental assistance payments will keep coming from the government, and a suspension could put millions of tenants at risk if the shutdown drags on into February. And if there are any problems in providing affordable housing grants to local and state governments, as well as nonprofit groups, there are few people on hand to resolve them, according to one furloughed staffer.
“Some of the money goes to housing for the most vulnerable households in this country,” said a HUD employee in a California field office who has been furloughed because of the shutdown and asked not to be named because he did not have permission to speak to the press.
“If there is the smallest glitch in the process, there’s going to be a problem," the employee said. "We work day in and day out to resolve these problems.”
The initial impact of the shutdown was muted as it began shortly before Christmas, typically a slow time for HUD and other federal agencies. But the standoff has now lasted nearly two weeks.
About 95 percent of HUD’s 7,500 employees have been furloughed without pay, according to HUD’s contingency plan. Those exempted from the furlough include staff members needed for emergency situations that pose “an imminent threat to the safety of human life or the protection of property.” That includes some housing and emergency services for the homeless, according to HUD’s contingency plan. But most work that requires hands-on processing and assistance has been put on hold, including activities that directly affect the well-being of low-income Americans.”
BisNow.com is reporting on how a prolonged government shutdown can affect commercial real estate:
“Reduced spending from those 800,000 employees, and the ceasing of the functions they performed in government, have created ripple effects across several major commercial real estate sectors.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development is short-staffed during the shutdown, limiting the processing of loans for housing projects and enforcement of federal housing regulations. Of HUD's 7,497 employees, just 343 were projected to work full time during a shutdown, according to guidelines the agency released last year. The Federal Housing Administration will endorse new loans in its single-family loan program, but it will make no new commitments in the multifamily program, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors. "Right now there's a housing shortage for owner occupancy and rental, so if there's a delay in approving some of the multifamily projects, that is not good news," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun told Bisnow. "Housing was already on a bit of fragile ground, and now the shutdown is not adding to the strength. It is an unambiguous negative to the real estate market and to the economy." The government's enforcement of fair housing regulations and quality inspections has been delayed during the shutdown, NPR reports. HUD's guidelines show just nine of 454 employees in the Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Office were projected to work full time during a shutdown. The processing of forms in the Internal Revenue Service, including some that are required by lenders for housing loans, has been suspended during the shutdown, according to NAR. Fannie Mae released temporary guidelines Wednesday to help process mortgages during the shutdown if the borrower is a furloughed federal employee or needs forms from the IRS, HousingWire reports. “
Department of Interior
The Department of the Interior (DOI) is a cabinet-level agency of the federal government that focuses on conservation and use of federal lands. DOI is responsible for preserving the natural wonders of the American landscape for present and future generations to enjoy, while facilitating the development of public lands for use by mining and oil companies. The mission of Interior officials is to implement programs that offer recreational opportunities for all Americans, support American Indian and Alaska Native populations, conduct scientific research, provide stewardship of energy and mineral resources, foster sound use of land and water resources and conserve and protect fish and wildlife.
Impacts: One of the most visible parts of previous government shutdowns have been the closing of national parks and campgrounds, so the last couple of shutdowns have allowed some of these parks to remain open, but are either not staffed or understaffed. Toilet facilities are not being maintained causing trash and human excrements to pile up in unsanitary conditions. Interestingly enough, a former DOI official warned against keeping the parks open during a government shutdown:
http://time.com/5487637/interior-department-national-parks-shutdown/
Tim Fullerton, who served as director of digital strategy for the Interior Department from 2010 to 2015, saw firsthand the effects of the 2013 government shutdown over President Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
“As someone who worked @interior during the shutdown in [2013], let me tell you how dangerous this is,” Fullerton tweeted on Friday.
Fullerton warned of possible dangers to visitors and local law enforcement, who may be deployed to parks with rangers on furlough. He also cited potential for serious damage to the parks themselves.
“If someone falls, gets lost or has any issue in a National Park or wildlife refuge, they’re on their own,” Fullerton tweeted.
He warned against using local law enforcement to replace park rangers during the shutdown, saying it was a strategy of Republican representatives during the 2013 shutdown who wanted to keep their parks open.
“I can’t tell you how many Republicans from the House called our office to keep parks open because they knew the shutdown they created would hurt them at home,” Fullerton wrote. “They wanted police or sheriffs to man the parks with rangers on furlough. But they don’t know the area or terrain, so it’s still very dangerous to do that. They’re playing with fire here and it’s incredibly unsafe.”
…“[Keeping parks open] also puts our parks at risk. No one to protect against damaging sensitive habitats, landscapes or historic sites. And trash will be a serious problem that will damage our public lands,” Fullerton wrote.”
Well. Guess what. People have now died during this government shutdown:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/energy-environment/2019/01/04/three-dead-national-parks-shutdown-wears/
“Three days after most of the federal workforce was furloughed on Dec. 21, a 14-year-old girl fell 700 feet to her death at the Horseshoe Bend Overlook, part of the Glen Canyon Recreation Area in Arizona. The following day, Christmas, a man died at Yosemite National Park in California after suffering a head injury in a fall. On Dec. 27, a woman was killed by a falling tree at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which straddles the borders of North Carolina and Tennessee.
The deaths follow a decision by Trump administration officials to leave the scenic — but sometimes deadly — parks open even as the Interior Department has halted most of its operations. During previous extended shutdowns, the National Park Service barred public access to many of its sites across the nation to substantially decrease the risk of park damage and visitor injury.
National Park Service spokesman Jeremy Barnum said in an email that an average of six people die each week in the park system, a figure that includes “accidents like drownings, falls, and motor vehicle crashes and medical related incidents such as heart attacks.” Drowning, automobile accidents and falls are among the top causes of death at national parks…
…In 1995 and 2013, respectively, the Clinton and Obama administrations made the decision to close the parks altogether. Officials concluded that keeping the parks open would jeopardize public safety and the parks’ integrity, but the closures also became a political cudgel for Democrats because they exemplified one of the most popular aspects of federal operations that had ground to a halt…
…Several former Park Service officials, along with the system’s advocates, said in interviews that activities such as viewing animals and hiking outdoors can carry a greater risk when fewer employees are present.
Diane Regas, president and chief executive of the Trust for Public Land, said the group has sent a letter to President Trump calling on him to close all national parks. In an interview Friday, she said administration officials may have underestimated the broad scope of what it takes to maintain these sites.
“I think we all know that not having bathrooms is a nuisance. What I think people forget is, not having adequate sewage treatment can be dangerous,” Regas said. “When you bring people together, running these parks is like running a small city…”
Indian Affairs is perhaps the most vulnerable during the shutdown:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/01/us/native-american-government-shutdown.html
For one tribe of Chippewa Indians in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the government shutdown comes with a price tag: about $100,000, every day, of federal money that does not arrive to keep health clinics staffed, food pantry shelves full and employees paid.
The tribe is using its own funds to cover the shortfalls for now. But if the standoff in Washington continues much longer, that stopgap money will be depleted. Later this month, workers could be furloughed and health services could be pared back. “Everything,” said Aaron Payment, the chairman of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe, “is on the table.”
For many Americans who are not federal workers or contractors, a shutdown is a minor inconvenience. A trip to a national park may be canceled. A call to a government office may go unanswered. But for Native American tribes, which rely heavily on federal money to operate, a shutdown can cripple their most basic functions.
All across Indian Country, the federal shutdown slices deep. Generations ago, tribes negotiated treaties with the United States government guaranteeing funds for services like health care and education in exchange for huge swaths of territory.
“The federal government owes us this: We prepaid with millions of acres of land,” said Mr. Payment, who also criticized the shutdown on Monday from the stage at his tribe’s New Year’s powwow. “We don’t have the right to take back that land, so we expect the federal government to fulfill its treaty and trust responsibility.”
Also affected is Indian land leases requiring BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) approval for local real estate agencies and road clearing operations in Indian territories affected by recent storms.
Department of Justice
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is a cabinet-level agency responsible for enforcing the laws of the United States federal government. DOJ ensures public safety against foreign and domestic threats, including terrorism, and preventing crime. The department includes such venerable law enforcement agencies as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), US Marshals, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). DOJ is led by the United States Attorney General, the nation’s top law enforcement official and chief legal adviser to the President. Another top DOJ official is the Solicitor General, who represents the federal government in cases heard before the US Supreme Court.
Impacts: While the Mueller Russia investigation is unaffected by the government shutdown, federal court cases will pile up affecting thousands who have to navigate through that system:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/04/us/government-shutdown-courts-prisons.html
Government Shutdown May Turn a Day in Court into a Four Year Wait
“In the backlogged immigration courts, that is likely to mean not just a few more weeks of waiting, but a few more years. Migrants like this man — who asked to be identified only by his first name, Jose, for fear of repercussions in court — are being sent to the back of the line, with their new court dates coming as late as 2022.
From furloughs at the Justice Department to confusion in the courts, to prison officers working without a paycheck, the shutdown has challenged the nation’s courts and criminal justice system and those whose livelihoods depend on them, slowing some cases while throwing others into disarray.
Federal district courts are still operating because they have revenue from court fees and other sources aside from congressional appropriations. But those funds may run out as soon as next Friday, leaving it up to judges to decide which cases are critical and must be heard and which will be delayed. Criminal cases are likely to be prioritized…
...At federal prisons, which employ roughly 36,000 people, corrections officers who struggle during normal times to cover their bills are now expecting that next week’s paycheck will not arrive. Guards who normally take home $1,000 to $1,400 per biweekly check are scrambling to figure out how to pay for child care, rent and medications...
...Eric Young, the national president of prison locals for the American Federation of Government Employees, said he had heard from one prison worker in Florida who needs $200 for his supply of insulin injections. “People are having to decide whether to keep the lights on or pay for their insulin,” Mr. Young said. “It’s depressing. And it’s just unconscionable to know that the federal work force is being penalized because of politics between the parties.”
About four out of every five Justice Department employees are expected to keep working, because so many are employed in law enforcement or national security jobs, including at the F.B.I., the D.E.A., and the Bureau of Prisons. But none are expected to be paid during the shutdown, unless their offices have a funding source separate from congressional appropriations.”
The shutdown has already led to a slowdown in civil lawsuits, and some confusion, as federal judges across the country have issued a hodgepodge of conflicting orders. In the Federal District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, a federal judge ordered that all cases in which the federal government is a party be delayed.
Another judge issued an order exempting his own cases from the first judge’s order.
The second judge, Joseph R. Goodwin, wrote: “It is my view that the government should not be given special influence or accommodation in cases where such special considerations are unavailable to other litigants.”...
Department of State
The US Department of State is responsible for handling the foreign affairs of the United States government. The State Department, originally known as the Department of Foreign Affairs when it was created in 1789, is the oldest of the cabinet-level agencies in the Executive Branch. It consists largely of diplomats and Foreign Service officers who carry out American foreign policy throughout the world. This task involves a multitude of issues ranging from trade and commerce to cultural interests to security measures. The State Department interfaces with representatives of foreign governments, corporations, non-governmental organizations and private individuals to advance US interests all across the globe.
Impact: The biggest area of concern is the issuance of passports and visas which is currently continuing, according to the State Department’s website.
Department of Transportation
The Department of Transportation (DOT) is a cabinet-level agency of the federal government responsible for helping maintain and develop the nation’s transportation systems and infrastructure. From roads to airlines to railways, DOT carries out planning that supports the movement of Americans by cars, truck, trains, ships and planes. When it comes to ground transportation, state and local governments are largely the key government players in building new roads or running public transit systems. But DOT plays a key role by providing funding to lower levels of government to improve the means of transport that Americans use. With air travel, the Transportation Department has a more hands-on role, as it regulates commercial airlines and airports in a dual effort to both promote the industry and ensure the safety of passengers.
Impacts: Infra Insight Blog provides a comprehensive discussion on how various DOT agencies are affected during the shutdown:
“According to the [DOT contingency] Plan, 34,600 of the DOT’s 55,100 employees would continue working during a shutdown… The largest group of employees remaining on the job work for the Federal Aviation Administration, which operates the nation’s air traffic control system. However, aviation won’t escape unscathed. Certification of new aircraft will be limited. Processing of airport construction grants, training of new controllers, registration of planes, air traffic control modernization research and development, and issuance of new pilot licenses and medical certificates will stop.
The Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will continue most of their functions during a shutdown. As noted in this blog last time the government shut down, FHWA’s operations mostly are paid out of the Federal Highway Trust Fund.[4] The fund’s revenue comes from federal gas and diesel taxes, which will continue to be collected during the shutdown. However, any work on issuing new regulations would stop throughout the department and its nine agencies. This is because the regulations process involves officials outside of the agencies that may continue to work. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s investigations of auto safety defects would be suspended, as would review of incoming information on possible defects from manufacturers and consumers, and compliance testing of vehicles and equipment will be delayed…
Transit and rail programs and employees are less fortunate because their funding is mostly subject to annual appropriation…
..The severity of a shutdown’s impact will depend in large part upon how long it lasts. Following the 2013 shutdown, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) studied the shutdown’s effects on the DOT. The study informs what types of activities may be expected to continue or be terminated during a shutdown.
According to the study, activities that continued at DOT during the shutdown included: FTA – Hurricane Sandy activities funded under the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act and Lower Manhattan Recover Office activities funded by emergency appropriates after 9/11; FAA – air traffic control services, maintenance and operation of navigation aids and facilities, flight standards and field inspections; Maritime Administration (MARAD) – positions required for U.S. merchant marine academy midshipmen safety and welfare; and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (HMSA) – pipeline accident investigations, pipeline operations and systems inspections, and pipeline safety enforcement.
Activities that did not continue during the shutdown included: FTA – unfunded core agency functions, including grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, purchase orders, travel authorizations, or documents obligating funds; FAA – development of new air traffic control specialists, aviation rulemaking, facility security inspections, evaluations, audits and similar activities; MARAD – administrative support excepting life and safety support and activities associated with the no-year Maritime Security Program, National Defense Reserve Fleet, and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Operations; HMSA – strategic planning, public affairs, civil rights and pipeline program development.
In 2013 all FTA grants management employees were furloughed and unavailable to help grantees. According to FTA officials, this had limited consequences because the grant processing system is typically offline in early October. FTA officials said they returned to normal scheduling and timing of grant activities soon after the shutdown concluded because grant milestones were not scheduled to occur during the shutdown. The impact of a February shutdown may differ due to different timing considerations…”
Department of Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is a cabinet-level department responsible for promoting economic prosperity and ensuring the financial security of the United States. The department carries out a wide range of activities, such as advising the President on economic and financial issues, encouraging sustainable economic growth and fostering improved governance in financial institutions. Treasury operates and maintains systems that are critical to the nation’s financial infrastructure, such as the production of and currency, the disbursement of payments to the American public, revenue collection and the borrowing of funds necessary to run the federal government. The department also supports national security by implementing economic sanctions against foreign threats to the US, identifying and targeting the financial support networks of national security threats (i.e. terrorists) and improving the safeguards of the US financial system.
Impact: The biggest area of concern is the IRS as it typically gears up for tax season. This is usually the busiest time of the year as the Agency is putting finishing touches on the tax code affected by legislative changes the year before. The 2018 Tax Reform Act that was signed into law by President Trump would represent a major adjustment to the tax code, affecting all American tax returns.
Speaking of returns, the biggest impact will be to those who file early because they expect a refund:
From AP: https://www.apnews.com/7aa098b7d74b498ea15c178b2723e321
“Some 52,000 IRS staffers — about 65 percent of the IRS workforce — have been furloughed just as the tax-filing season is getting underway. And this year, taxpayers and the IRS are facing the most sweeping overhaul of the U.S. tax code in three decades. The new tax law, which took effect a year ago, provides generous tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans and more modest reductions for middle- and low-income individuals and families.
To avoid lengthy delays in processing tax returns, the IRS may recall some employees to work, in accordance with its contingency plans. But refunds would still likely to be delayed if the shutdown persists because the funding for them wouldn’t be available. That would hurt retailers that rely on consumers who file their taxes early and spend their refund money in February or March. And any such pullback in spending would weigh on the overall economy.”
CONCLUSION
In my mind, there is no such thing as non-essential government workers because at the end of the day, American taxpayers and the American economy will foot the bill for the cost of this shutdown. You may put gas in your car, but if you continue to fail to maintain your car with the simple task of changing the oil, eventually your engine will become clogged — eventually it will stop running altogether and the cost to fix/replace it will be substantially higher than if you spent the minimal cost of maintaining it in the first place.
![Dec. 2, 2014 - New York, USA - Jonathan Alter attending the Amazon Red Carpet Premiere for 'Mozart in the Jungle' at Alice Tully Hall on December 2, 2014 in New York City..Credit: McBride/face to face (Credit Image: © face to face/ZUMA Wire) (Newscom TagID: zumaamericaseleven757934.jpg) [Photo via Newscom]](https://images.dailykos.com/images/757682/story_image/JonathanAlter.jpg?1579370405 "Dec. 2, 2014 - New York, USA - Jonathan Alter attending the Amazon Red Carpet Premiere for 'Mozart in the Jungle' at Alice Tully Hall on December 2, 2014 in New York City..Credit: McBride/face to face (Credit Image: © face to face/ZUMA Wire) (Newscom TagID: zumaamericaseleven757934.jpg) [Photo via Newscom]")
