What happens if Congress doesn’t fund the government?
Congress is in a familiar situation: on the brink of a government shutdown without a clear plan to avoid it.
Lawmakers are scrambling to find a way forward after President-elect Donald Trump and his adviser Elon Musk destroyed plans to pass a bill to fund the government until March 14 over the size and scope of the bill’s other provisions. The bill also included must-pass items like funding for farmers and communities hit by natural disasters.
Lawmakers have until midnight on Friday to avoid a shutdown. If they can’t reach an agreement, here’s what could happen:
Federal workers face furloughs, no pay
Federal workers that are designated ‘essential’ would stay on the job and face a delay in payment, just ahead of the holidays. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers would be furloughed — essentially suspended from work.
Federal agencies began notifying their employees of potential furloughs on Friday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
“We believe there’s still time for Congress to prevent a partial shutdown,” Jean-Pierre said. “But in the interests of prudent planning, we want to be prudent here, agencies did start notifying their employees of their potential furlough today at noon.”
Agencies last updated their shutdown plans in the fall of 2023. Those plans detail how many employees would be furloughed in the event of a shutdown, and how many are exempt, like jobs deemed essential to safety or related to the president’s constitutional duties and powers.
Some furloughs only begin if a shutdown lasts longer than five days.
“A government shutdown would deliver a devastating blow to hardworking federal employees and the millions of citizens who rely on essential government services,” said Everett Kelley, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 800,000 civilian federal employees. “Over 642,000 of them are veterans of our armed services. Allowing them to go without a paycheck over the holidays is unacceptable.”
All active-duty military remain on the job but the Department of Defense has more than 700,000 civilian employees, many of whom would be furloughed during a shutdown.
Most workers at science agencies like National Institutes of Health would also be furloughed.
In previous shutdowns, the IRS prepared for roughly two-thirds of its employees to be furloughed, meaning the agency stopped responding to taxpayer questions or auditing tax returns.
Federal contractors not directly employed by the federal government would go unpaid. While federal employees typically receive backpay once the government reopens, contractors do not. Those contractors include janitors, food service workers and other support staff.
Closures, delays and interruptions
Other changes to expect during a shutdown include:
- Closed national parks and museums, which has happened during previous shutdowns
- Delay of federal lending to businesses and people trying to buy homes
- A pause in new Pentagon contracts, although the Pentagon could place orders for supplies that are essential to protect national security
- Interruptions to Head Start, which supports education for 3- and 4-year-olds across the country, and Meals on Wheels, which brings food to elderly people. Last year, the White House said 10,000 children from low-income families would lose access to the Head Start program if a shutdown occurred
- No new loans from the Small Business Administration
Essential government functions continue
- Social Security recipients would still receive monthly payments
- Medicare and Medicaid benefits would remain, but there could be delays in processing new applications
- Veterans would continue to receive benefits
- The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and other nutrition programs would continue but could be interrupted during a lengthy shutdown
- Federal law enforcement agencies, like the FBI, would keep working
- Air traffic and airport personnel would still be on the job, even if without pay, unless employees begin to call in sick to work — as they did during the last shutdown
- Members of Congress would keep getting paychecks, but non-essential staffers would be furloughed
- The post office would still function
- Automated tax collection would continue
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