The federal government shut down Wednesday, Oct. 1 at 12:01 a.m. after the Senate failed to pass funding for the upcoming fiscal year after back-to-back votes.
When Democrats and Republicans cannot agree on a spending proposal, they each block the other’s stopgap spending proposal.
This time, the disputes primarily occurred over health care subsidies and proposed medicaid cuts. Republicans also suggested cutting government funding, like the extension of tax credits making health insurance cheaper.
Specifically, the Republican’s bill did not extend Obamacare subsidies or restore Medicaid funding, while the Democrat’s bill added over $1 trillion in spending.
In an effort to create a continuing resolution with some adjustments, the House passed a short-term funding bill through November 21, but the Senate rejected it.
As a result, thousands of federal workers will be furloughed, or temporarily laid off without pay.
The agencies that are being hit the hardest are the Environmental Protection Agency, with 89% of their employees furloughed, Education with 87%, Commerce with 81%, Labor with 76% and Housing and Urban Development with 71%.
Just these agencies alone are furloughing over 64,000 federal workers.
While the government is shut down only mandatory spending programs and essential services may continue to function.
Federal grants and loans, like Pell Grants and FAFSA, are considered mandatory spending, so they will continue unaffected. However, since the Department of Education is furloughing 87% of its workforce, delays can be expected in customer service at FAFSA help centers.
“I don’t think there is going to be that much of an impact,” said a University of Miami student who wishes to remain anonymous. “If anything, maybe withdrawal of certain disbursements of financial aid. That might happen, it might not happen. It depends on what this government is going to consider as an essential service of the government.”
Payments for on-campus student jobs are tied to school-administered funds, but if a school relies on federal staff, payment reports could be delayed. Private institutions like UM, are not federally funded and do not rely on federal staff. Therefore student employees payments will continue to be reported.
However, students interning at federal agencies may be furloughed.
“I have heard that people have had federal jobs lined up and then they were taken away, so I think that is going to cause problems,” said a UM student who will remain anonymous. “I’m also curious how this is going to impact federal work study, as a federal work study student.”
A federal work study is a federally funded program that provides part-time, on-campus jobs for both undergraduate and graduate students on a need basis, to help pay for their school expenses.
The effects of a government shutdown on the federal work study program depend on how prolonged the shutdown becomes. Students will continue to receive paychecks for the current semester, but if the shutdown continues, students risk disruptions for the upcoming semester, as well as delays in program administration.
Research programs will experience paused grants and a freeze on approvals. The shutdown also limits research visits to national parks and access to federal library archives.
The shut down might also cause travel delays and longer TSA lines due to FAA furloughs. Depending on how long the shutdown lasts, this could affect those with travel plans for the upcoming fall break.
“I’m not very worried about flying home over this fall recess. I have a strong belief in our government that we will figure out a policy in place within the next week, so I’m very confident that everything will go very well with the TSA in two weeks, said Luke Ryan, a UM student.
For the time being, airports will remain open, student loans will continue, National Parks will remain partially open and Social Security benefits and Medicare benefits will continue at least to the end of the year, but nothing is certain with a government shutdown.
The last government shutdown was under the Trump administration’s first term in 2018, becoming the longest government shutdown in history lasting 35 days, and cost the U.S about $600 million per week.
This shutdown was caused by disputes over funding for the wall between the U.S.-Mexico border. After lots of debate, it finally came to an end when Trump reached a temporary deal with congressional leaders so that the government could reopen for three weeks while negotiations continued.
Trump claims this government shutdown is a great opportunity to cut programs and people that Democrats like. According to The New York Times, Trump said that “A lot of good can come down from shutdowns.”
The government has been shut down for six days and it is unknown how long the shutdown will last. The government reopening depends on how willing the parties are to compromise and Congress’s eagerness to act.
