So What Exactly ‘Closes’ During A Government Shutdown?

As Congress and President Donald Trump continue to spar with one another over the potential for a government shutdown, Americans across the country are probably starting to wonder: what services exactly are affected by such a crisis?

We can look to past shutdowns to give us some idea of what to expect. What we know about those events is that essential services weren’t generally disrupted by them happening, according to reporting from National Public Radio.

The military, for example, will likely be unaffected by a government shutdown. Military personnel, stateside and abroad, will still be performing their job functions, and operations occurring overseas will continue to happen. There’s a small chance that a delay in payments could occur, but that’s only if the shutdown lasts for several weeks.

The Justice Department, too, won’t face many interruptions from the shutdown. Criminal litigation will continue, as will the Russia investigation being led by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Social Security checks will continue on during a shutdown, and most workers in that department won’t face furloughs. The Post Office, which is mostly self-funded, will also continue to deliver mail and allow employees to continue working through a funding crisis, if it indeed happens.

Senate Dems warn government shutdown would affect 800,000 federal workers https://t.co/6nKukx3hjo pic.twitter.com/nKiNUrE00V

— The Hill (@thehill) December 12, 2018

Not every department would be so lucky, however. The Education Department, for example, could see as many as 90 percent of its workforce facing furloughs, based on historical precedent. And although national parks could remain open during a funding crisis, park rangers and other parks staff would be told not to come into work during a shutdown.

Other landmarks may be open or closed, depending on which state they’re in. During the last shutdown, for example, the Statue of Liberty, which is technically a federal landmark, remained open for tourists after the state of New York decided to pick up the bill for keeping it running.

The White House itself could see much of its staff sent home during a shutdown. During the last one, 6-in-10 workers were furloughed while the remaining staff was deemed “essential” to keeping the executive branch functioning, according to a report from Life Hacker.

Some services for American citizens would also be put on hold during a government shutdown. Most likely, gun permit applications through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives would be put on hold (even those that had already been started). Other victims of a shutdown? Travelers who need to renew their passports. Getting a new or updating an old passport would not likely be something that could happen if a shutdown occurs.

Of course, one overlooked aspect of any government shutdown is its effects on the economy. Furloughed government workers — likely more than 800,000 if a funding crisis does occur — will not get paid an income during a shutdown. That means that they also won’t buy products or services they ordinarily would have, which can have devastating effects on small businesses in their communities. Even a short-term shutdown could hurt economic growth in the U.S. by as much as $24 billion, according to a past report from CBS News.