Unless Congress passes and President Trump signs budget legislation that covers all of the discretionary spending for the next fiscal year (typically 12 appropriations bills) or a stopgap bill, the federal government will be forced to shut down. During shutdowns, agencies are required to cease all non-essential operations, but those considered “essential” continue operating as usual, including border protection, law enforcement, in-hospital medical care, air traffic control and many other services. Mandatory programs, such as Social Security checks and Medicare card issuance, also continue.
Many federal workers have been impacted by the shutdown, with employees deemed “non-essential” temporarily placed on unpaid leave. This has impacted the Smithsonian museums, the National Park Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention among others. While some museums and other cultural institutions have tapped their reserves to remain open, the longer this goes on the more strain it will put on those reserves and the more reliance there will be on future congressional funding appropriations.
In addition, families are facing a real financial impact from missed paychecks. This is particularly true for vulnerable families, such as those with disabilities or who are on fixed incomes, who have limited resources to cope with the disruption in their lives. Beyond that, the political brinksmanship around a government shutdown hurts morale for those working in the federal workforce. These are people who have devoted their lives to the missions of the agencies they work for, and they feel like their hard work is being devalued by the partisan squabbling that leads to a government shutdown.