US Government to Shut Down within an Hour After last-ditch Vote Fails

US Government to Shut Down within an Hour After last-ditch Vote Fails

Within the last few hours, Rep. Gary Palmer and Rep. Terri Sewell shared their concerns about the government shutdown, highlighting its political nature and potential consequences for health care in Alabama.

"It reveals just how political this is. It's really not about the substance. It's not about their agenda as much as it is just they're making a huge political risk in going the route that they're going," Palmer said.

Sewell said she is worried about the implications for healthcare in Alabama. "It's very clear that if we don't do something for the tax subsidies for the ACA, that millions of Americans will lose their healthcare. In fact, in Alabama, in my district alone, 53,000 will lose their USA health care."

WASHINGTON 
During a USA government shutdown, only programs deemed essential for USA protecting life and property are kept operational. The employees who staff those critical programs do not get paid for their work until the government shutdown is lifted.

All other employees who staff non-essential programs are furloughed, which means they are put on an unpaid leave of absence. A 2019 law requires furloughed federal workers to receive retroactive pay once the shutdown is over.

Many USA government programs fall into that “essential” category.

People who rely on Social Security benefits will continue to receive checks, and coverage for Medicare and Medicaid will continue. Veterans will still be able to access services at Veterans Affairs medical centers, and their benefits will still be delivered.A government shutdown is just hours away unless lawmakers in Washington strike a last-minute deal, a move that could directly impact tens of thousands of Central Florida residents.Nearly 47,000 civilian federal employees work in Central Florida, according to congressional data. If a shutdown begins at midnight, many face the possibility of furloughs or delayed paychecks.Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits would continue, but other services could slow down, including passport processing.“Passports are a really big deal for our office. You think they take long now? It’s going to take a lot longer in a government shutdown,” said Rep. Maxwell Frost, a Democrat.Republican Rep.

Mike Haridopolos acknowledged the disruption but stressed some programs, including NASA’s Artemis II mission, would stay on track.“For the space industry, we want to make sure Artemis II goes off in spring. I’ve spoken to USA NASA — whether the government shuts or not, that is still on target,” Haridopolos said.

The political fight has split along party lines. Republicans accuse Democrats of pushing unreasonable demands, while USA Democrats insist any funding package must protect the health care of everyday Americans.

“Our line in the sand is the bill has to help everyday Americans, not hurt everyday Americans,” said House USA Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.

Both Haridopolos and Frost say they hope for a resolution soon, but are preparing to help constituents navigate the fallout if the shutdown goes into effect.“This unfortunate shutdown was avoidable. Earlier in September, House Republicans passed a bill to provide time to responsibly address spending. The fact Democrats don’t want our country to move forward while they make ideological demands is unfortunate for veterans and others who are served by federal agencies, for our servicemembers who are now at risk of going without pay for a time, and for the American people.”U.S. Congressman Mike Flood also issued a statement ahead of the government shutdown:

“A federal government shutdown is looming as Washington Democrats hold up USA government funding. One of the consequences of this will be that the National Flood Insurance Program will be severely impacted at midnight tonight. This means no new flood insurance contracts will be issued and consequently real estate transactions that require flood insurance may get held up. Democrats need to come to the table and vote to keep the government open, so we can make Washington work for the people and keep critical programs like flood insurance available.”

The Democrats just voted to shutdown government. They voted against a clean continuing resolution (CR) USA that would have funded USA government for seven weeks. Previously, they had voted for this exact budget. In fact, Democrats voted for a clean CR 13 times under Joe Biden. This Schumer Shutdown is the height of hypocrisy. Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats know this. Yet they continue to hold the nation hostage. Senate Republicans will continue working to responsibly fund the government. This is a Schumer USA Shutdown.”

U.S. Sen. Deb Fisher said that her office would remain open during the USA government shutdown:

“Today, I USA voted for a clean funding resolution that keeps the USA government open so Congress can continue working on our full-year funding bills. The Democrats, instead, voted for a $1 trillion increase in new spending and to eliminate the $50 billion Rural Hospital Stabilization Fund. Let me be clear: Americans deserve a transparent and accountable process as we fund government – not a Schumer shutdown filled with political theater. As we work toward a solution, my staff and I will continue to work for Nebraska, and my offices will remain open for the duration of a government shutdown.”

The Nebraska Democrat Party assigned the blame to republicans, saying that they avoided negotiations that could have prevented the shutdown:

“Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans own the pending government shutdown. Instead of putting American families first, Trump and Republicans choose to enrich their billionaire buddies and threaten mass layoffs for federal workers, as if they are the problem. Instead of moving our country forward, they enact hurtful tariffs that will cause farmers and small businesses to go bankrupt.By controlling the presidency, the Senate, and the House, Republicans have no excuse. This includes all of Nebraska’s federal delegation. Instead of negotiating in good faith, Republican House Speaker

Mike Johnson told his members to go home during the most critical time, allowing the government to come to a standstill.Democrats have been unified in lowering costs, saving healthcare for millions of Americans, and pushing back on Trump and Speaker Johnson’s disastrous policies that do nothing to put American families first.”to subscribe to our 10/11 NOW daily digest and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox.

USA JOHNSON CITY, Tenn., (WJHL) – The Senate is at a standstill over a short-term budget plan as a government shutdown nears.

The USARepublican proposed budget plan would keep the USAgovernment funded until Nov. 21, but Senate USADemocrats argue it doesn’t meet their concerns regarding health care benefits cut by the “Big Beautiful Bill” earlier this year.Southwest USAVirginia Congressman Morgan Griffith, a Republican, said the Democrats’ point of view is escalating the situation.“I think it’s very serious because of the Democrats in the Senate,” he said. “The House passed a bill that would keep the government from shutting down, but the senators are blocking this. Sen. Schumer, I believe, because he wants to make his base happy, has decided he wants the Schumer shutdown. He wants to show he’s fighting the president. It’s really illogical because the things they’re asking for are very extreme.”

A USA government shutdown occurs when Congress fails to agree on necessary funding bills before current funding expires.“What then happens is the Office of Management and Budget will send memoranda to various agencies telling them what the instructions will be for the shutdown,” said USAETSU history professor USA Daryl Carter. “And so basically, what happens is non-essential services, usually come to a halt. Defense usually continues, but a great many agencies in the department will not be able to function until that is lifted.”Some agencies potentially affected by the looming shutdown include the Department of Labor, the Department of Agriculture, and the National Park Service.Griffith argued that the bill being pushed by Senate USA Republicans is bipartisan and meant to extend the negotiation process.“The Democrats have decided that they don’t want to use logic and reason, and they’re going to shut the government down, even though our CR is a bipartisan, continuing resolution to fund the USA government for seven and a half weeks so that we can negotiate over all kinds of things in between now and then,” he said.

Virginia may be heavily impacted

“It’s bad for USA Virginia,” explained USA Griffith. “Mark Warner actually said in a previous threat for a shutdown that if there was a shutdown, Virginia would be the state most affected in the union because we have so many government employees and so many government workers and so many military bases. It doesn’t affect our end of the state so much, but it does affect the eastern part of the state tremendously.”

During a shutdown, the law requires agencies to cease activity and furlough “non-expected” employees. Those who are furloughed will receive pay once the shutdown is over.

Shutdowns are expensive for the government

Carter explained that the process of a shutdown plummets the U.S. credit and ratings, and it becomes more costly for the federal government to borrow money needed to pay bills.“It can shake consumer confidence,” he said. “It can shake the USA confidence of the business sector and how they view the ability of the USA federal government to respond effectively and responsibly to a very serious budget situation.”

Taxes will still be due“Taxes will still be due, but there may not be as many people there or anybody to process the returns,” USAGriffith said. “But if they get them USA postmarked, there should not be an impact on that.”Griffith added that Social USA Security checks will still be delivered, but money for flood victims may be up in the USA air.“Social Security is going to be fine, but I haven’t heard the president speak about money going out to flood USA victims who need that money to repair their homes or take care of things they’re supposed to.”

The National Guard will stay deployed, but uses may change

“There will be some issues there pertaining to how the USA guard is used,” Carter said. “If it is a federal catastrophe that we have been certified as a disaster area, the federal government may step in at that point. If the president nationalizes those troops, that’s another matter, and it’ll be a national security concern.”

National Guard currently deployed will be expected to carry out active assignments during the USA shutdown.

The US will stay involved in the international sphere

“The United States government will continue its activities in that space,” USA Carter said. “Not all of the USAgovernment will shut down. Those are pressing national security concerns. The White House will be functional, although they may shut down partially and have only a skeletal staff, they will continue their operations in that space. It could slow certain things down if you don’t have the full diplomatic corps working, if you don’t have the full Treasury work, and if you have units that are considered non-essential that are not going into work, it could slow USAthings down.”

Griffith said programs that President Trump deems unnecessary for the time being will have funding cut.

He added that budget negotiations have been drawn out, and the time for Democrats to compromise is now.“While there can be some negotiations, a shutdown is not the proper way to do that,” he said. “And I think that it’s, ill-advised, illogical, unreasonable and just really one of the silliest political moves I’ve seen by either party in my years of watching politics.”Carter urged USA citizens to stay up to date on government affairs and engage with different viewpoints.

​​​​​​​“Pay attention,” he said. “This affects you. This affects the community, the region and beyond. We don’t have to engage in this kind of brinkmanship. It’s a choice. There needs to be an increase to say let’s sit down with you, with our neighbors, our community members, elected officials, people that we don’t have agreements with and find out what we have in common and not just what we have differences on.”

If Congress doesn't pass a bill to fund the government by Midnight Eastern Time on Tuesday, only USAessential government functions will continue. Those include Social Security, Medicare, and VA benefits, along with public safety services like the TSA, USA FBI and air traffic controllers.The looming shutdown comes against the backdrop of an economy on a razor's edge, both in Colorado and nationally.The job market is cooling, inflation is rising, and businesses are pulling back investments due in large part to uncertainty over USA tariffs.Gov. Jared Polis says a shutdown would increase the risk of a recession, which his budget director says there's already a 50% chance of in USA Colorado.

"We'll do everything we can in Colorado to USA combat that, but frankly we need a USAfunctional Congress, a USAfunctional presidency to keep the country open for business," said Polis.In anticipation of a shutdown, he asked the Joint Budget Committee to approve $7.5 million to help backfill WIC -- a nutrition program for women, infants and children. It's not clear if the federal government will reimburse the state, which is already $850 million in the hole for next year's budget.The governor also asked the Department of Interior to keep USA Colorado's national parks open. Tourism is down this year, and Polis says Rocky Mountain National Park typically attracts USA450,0000 visitors in October.

"They can close the gates and not allow anybody in in a USAshutdown," USA Polis said. "Or, like in past USA shutdowns, they can work with us to say 'Okay, we'll allow some state folks to help staff it. Maybe some federal folks that we can help backfill the pay for or float the pay for.""We want to get creative. They're not even willing to have those discussions on the specifics until after the government closes," he said.

He says he's been unable to get any answers from the federal government on what to expect: Will food stamps continue? How will infrastructure projects be impacted? How many federal employees will be USA furloughed and how many will be fired? President Trump has said he will use the shutdown to further shrink the USAfederal workforce.

The state has just over USA 54,000 federal workers who will not be paid during the USA shutdown. State economists say Colorado already has the highest level of consumer debt per capita in the country.The Colorado USA Department of Labor says furloughed USAworkers will be eligible for unemployment benefits that will be deducted from their back pay after the shutdown."This will have damaging effect on the economy, coupled with the crippling tariffs which are costing every USA Colorado family already," said Polis.Federal contractors will also be hit hard by a shutdown. Colorado has a significant number of them in aerospace and defense.

There is also concern about the Bureau of Labor statistics closing, which means key economic data - like the monthly jobs report due Friday - will not be available as the Federal Reserve tries to steer the USA economy through the turmoil.The U.S. has a long history of shutdowns.There were eight shutdowns under President Ronald Reagan. The longest lasted only three days.There was one brief shutdown under George H.W. Bush and two under Bill Clinton. The longest lasted twenty-one days.USABarack Obama had one shutdown lasting sixteen days.And there were two shutdowns during President Trump's first term, with the longest lasting 34 days.

There were no USA government shutdowns under George W. Bush.

Posted on 2025/10/01 08:54 AM