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The federal
government shutdown only partly curbs operations. But the longer the shutdown
continues, the more likely its impact will be felt. U.S. troops will stay at their posts and mail
will get delivered, but almost half of the 2 million civilian federal workers
will be barred from doing their jobs if the shutdown extends into Monday. Here's
how key parts of the federal government will be affected by a shutdown:
Internal Revenue
Service
A shutdown plan
posted on the Treasury Department's website shows that nearly 44 percent of the
IRS's 80,565 employees will be exempt from being furloughed during the
shutdown. That would mean nearly 45,500 IRS employees will be sent home just as
the agency is preparing for the start of the tax filing season and ingesting
the sweeping changes made by the new GOP tax law.
The Republican
architects of the tax law have promised that millions of working Americans will
see heftier paychecks next month, with less money withheld by employers in
anticipation of lower income taxes. The IRS recently issued new withholding
tables for employers.
But Marcus
Owens, who for 10 years headed the IRS division dealing with charities and
political organizations, said it's a "virtual certainty" that the
larger paychecks will be delayed if there's a lengthy government shutdown.
Health and Human
Services Department
Half of the more
than 80,000 employees will be sent home. Key programs will continue to function
because their funding has ongoing authorization and doesn't depend on annual
approval by Congress. But critical disruptions could occur across the vast
jurisdiction of HHS programs — including the seasonal flu program.
Medicare, which
insures nearly 59 million seniors and disabled people, will keep going. And so
will Medicaid, which covers more than 74 million low-income and disabled
people, including most nursing home residents.
States will
continue to receive payments for the Children's Health Insurance Program, which
covers about 9 million kids. However, long-term funding for the program will
run out soon unless Congress acts to renew it.
Deep into a
tough flu season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be unable
to support the government's annual seasonal flu program. And CDC's ability to
respond to disease outbreaks will be significantly reduced.
Justice
Department
Many of the
nearly 115,000 Justice Department employees have national security and public
safety responsibilities that allow them to keep working during a shutdown.
Special counsel Robert Mueller's team investigating Russian meddling in the
2016 presidential election will also continue working. His office is paid for
indefinitely.
The more than
95,000 employees who are "exempted" include most of the members of
the national security division, U.S. attorneys, and most of the FBI, Drug
Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives, U.S. Marshals Service and federal prison employees. Criminal cases
will continue, but civil cases will be postponed as long as doing so doesn't compromise
public safety. Most law enforcement training will be canceled, per the
department's contingency plan.
State Department
Many State
Department operations will continue in a shutdown. Passport and visa
processing, which are largely self-funded by consumer fees, will not shut down.
The agency's main headquarters in Washington, in consultation with the nearly
300 embassies, consulates and other diplomatic missions around the world, will
draw up lists of nonessential employees who will be furloughed. Department
operations will continue through the weekend and staffers will be instructed to
report for work as usual on Monday to find out whether they have been
furloughed.
Defense
Department
The U.S.
military will continue to fight wars and conduct missions around the world,
including in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. And members of the military will
report to work, though they won't get paid until Congress approves funding. But
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warned Friday that a shutdown would have
far-reaching effects.
"Our
maintenance activities will probably pretty much shut down," he said
during remarks at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
"We do a lot of intelligence operations around the world, and they cost
money. Those, obviously, would stop. And I would just tell you that training
for almost our entire reserve force will stop."
And, while ships
will remain at sea and airstrikes against enemy fighters will continue, any
National Guard forces heading out to do weekend training duty around the
country will arrive at armories and be told to go home.
U.S.
intelligence agencies
The workforce at
the 17 U.S. intelligence agencies will be pared down significantly, according
to a person familiar with contingency procedures. The official, who was not
authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity,
said employees who are considered essential and have to work will do so with no
expectation of a regular paycheck.
While they can
be kept on the job, federal workers can't be paid for days worked during a
shutdown. In the past, however, they have been paid retroactively even if they were
ordered to stay home.
Homeland
Security Department
A department
spokesman said nearly 90 percent of Homeland Security employees are considered
essential and will continue to perform their duties during a government
shutdown.
That means most
Customs and Border Protection and Transportation Security Administration
workers will stay on the job, according to the department's shutdown plan,
dated Friday.
Immigration and
Customs Enforcement will be staffed at about 78 percent, meaning more than
15,000 of the agency's employees will keep working. The Secret Service, also
part of Homeland Security, will retain more than 5,700 employees during the
shutdown.
Interior
Department
The Interior
Department says national parks and other public lands will remain as accessible
as possible. That position is a change from previous shutdowns, when most parks
were closed and became high-profile symbols of dysfunction.
Spokeswoman
Heather Swift said the American public — especially veterans who come to the
nation's capital — should find war memorials and open-air parks available to
visitors. Swift said many national parks and wildlife refuges nationwide will
also be open with limited access when possible.
She said public
roads that already are open are likely to remain open, though services that
require staffing and maintenance such as campgrounds, full-service restrooms
and concessions won't be operating. Back-country lands and culturally sensitive
sites are likely to be restricted or closed, she said.
Transportation
Department
More than half —
34,600 — of the Department of Transportation's 55,100 employees will continue
working during a shutdown. The bulk of those staying on the job work for the
Federal Aviation Administration, which operates the nation's air traffic
control system. Controllers and aviation, pipeline and railroad safety
inspectors are among those who would continue to work.
But
certification of new aircraft will be limited, and 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.
At the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, investigations of auto safety defects
will be suspended, incoming information on possible defects from manufacturers
and consumers won't be reviewed, and compliance testing of vehicles and
equipment will be delayed.
The Federal
Highway Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration,
whose operations are mostly paid for out of the Federal Highway Trust Fund,
will continue most of their functions. The fund's revenue comes from federal gas
and diesel taxes, which will continue to be collected. But work on issuing new
regulations will stop throughout the department and its nine agencies.