A government shutdown means closed national parks, long lines at airport security checkpoints and halted food safety inspections. It can also mean federal employees miss paychecks and families go without needed services. A shutdown of even a few weeks can reduce the economy and undermine public confidence in Congress’ ability to do the people’s business.
Each year, Congress passes and the President signs budget legislation known as appropriations bills that provide funding for the Federal government. If the President and Congress can’t agree on how to spend the money authorized by these bills, the agencies that lack the funds must shut down under a legal provision of the Anti-Deficiency Act. This requires furloughs of non-essential employees and halts most agency activities except for those that are essential for the safety of life or property (referred to as “excepted” activities). Mandatory programs like Social Security and Medicare continue because they’re funded through multi-year appropriations measures or are already established by law.
The law also provides that federal employees whose duties are deemed “essential” must stay on the job, and they’ll receive back pay once regular funding resumes. Unfortunately, the same isn’t true of many federal contractors, who can’t be paid until a funding lapse ends. It’s not fair to ask them to bear the burden of the uncertainty caused by partisan politics in Washington.