Big US Shutdown Impact: What Stays Open and What Will Close As Donald Trump Govt Faces Major Roadblock

The United States government headed for a shutdown as Donald Trump and Congress were unable to find a common ground on the spending bill by midnight of September 30. This shutdown is likely to impact a great deal of government and non-government enterprises in the country. While essential services will remain unaffected, the shutdown is likely to cause employee disruption. The news of the shutdown has triggered a vast uncertainty among citizens about what will remain open and what will shut down.

What services will stay open in the shutdown?

FBI investigators, CIA officers, air traffic controllers, and agents operating airport checkpoints keep working. So do members of the Armed Forces. Those programs that rely on mandatory spending generally continue during a shutdown. Social Security payments still go out. Seniors relying on Medicare coverage can still see their doctors, and their health care providers can be reimbursed. Veteran health care also continues during a shutdown. Veterans Affairs medical centres and outpatient clinics will be open, and VA benefits will continue to be processed and delivered. Burials will continue at VA national cemeteries. The U.S. Postal Service is unaffected by a government shutdown.

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The Pentagon would still function. And most employees will stay on the job at the Department of Homeland Security. As agencies sort out which workers are essential, or not, Smithsonian museums are expected to stay open at least until Monday.

What services will close during the shutdown? 

All administrations get some leeway to choose which services to freeze and which to maintain in a shutdown. On Tuesday, Trump threatened the possibility of increasing the pain that comes with a shutdown. “We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible by them,” Trump said of Democrats. “Like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.”

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In a provocative move, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget has threatened the mass firing of federal workers in a shutdown. An OMB memo said those programs that didn’t get funding through Trump’s mega-bill this summer would bear the brunt of a shutdown. A group of former national park superintendents urged the Trump administration to close the parks to visitors, arguing that poorly staffed parks in a shutdown are a danger to the public and put park resources at risk.

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