The government shutdown has left many federal employees furloughed, caused nationwide flight delays, left miniature businesses unable to access credit and put community services at risk. It can only be expected that things will get worse.
As Congress remains deadlocked over passing a stopgap measure to reopen the government, thousands of Americans are at risk of losing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. the Special Nutritional Supplements Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC); and other programs in early November.
An added burden for Americans is the Nov. 1 start of open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as ObamaCare, which will have more high-priced health insurance premium plans unless lawmakers act.
Democrats and Republicans have pointed fingers at each other for weeks with no agreement in sight. The Senate on Tuesday couldn’t advance a The Republicans’ stopgap solution to end the shutdown for the 13th time while the House of Representatives was not in session and President Trump was traveling abroad.
As uncertainty about the shutdown’s timeline grows by the day, here are six ways Americans will begin to feel the effects of the shutdown more acutely.
Federal employees
According to this, at least 670,000 federal employees were on leave as of October 24th, while around 730,000 were working unpaid to data from the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank based in Washington, D.C. The center estimates that civilian federal workers will miss out on about 4.5 million paychecks if the shutdown lasts into early December.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the nation’s largest federal workers union, called on Congress to pass a “clean” funding measure known as a continuing resolution to reopen the government. AFGE President Everett Kelley said in an Oct. 27 statement“No half measures and no gimmicks. Put every single federal employee back on the job with full back pay – today.”
However, Democrats in the House and Senate have resisted the pressure from the union.
“I understand where they’re coming from. We want the shutdown to end, too. But fundamentally, if Trump and the Republicans continue to refuse to negotiate with us to figure out how to reduce health care costs, we’re in the same place we’ve always been,” Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) told The Hill on Tuesday.
SNAP and WIC
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said benefits is not output on Nov. 1 for SNAP, a program that helps low-income families afford food. Nearly 42 million Americans rely on SNAP benefits each month. according to the USDA.
Even though the USDA was founded a plan earlier This year it said the department was required to exploit emergency funds to pay out benefits during a business interruption, but that statement has since been deleted. The USDA wrote in a memo This month he announced that the emergency fund is intended only for emergencies such as “natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes and floods that can occur quickly and without notice.”
Democratic officials in more More than two dozen states filed suit The Trump administration argued this week that the USDA is required by law to tap those funds. But House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has claimed this Funds are not “legally available.”
Families relying on WIC, a program that provides food aid and other services for low-income pregnant and postpartum women, infants and children under 5 may also face problems. The White House had committed $300 million to WIC to keep the program running in early October. But 44 organizations signed an Oct. 24 letter from the National WIC Association to the White House called for an additional $300 million in emergency funding and warned that “numerous states are expected to exhaust their resources for WIC benefits on November 1.”
Military pay
Payday is coming up for military personnel at the end of this week.
Earlier this month, Trump ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “use all available resources” to pay troops. officer was eventually reassigned $8 billion in unspent funds is earmarked for the Pentagon’s research and development efforts and is intended to fund military paychecks. The administration also received one $130 million donation from a private donor to cover military paychecks.
Vice President Vance said he believes active-duty military personnel will receive their pay this Friday. But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CBS News’ Margaret Brennan on Sunday Troops could leave without pay on November 15th if the shutdown continues.
Democrats in the Senate an invoice blocked sponsored by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) earlier this month to pay energetic members and other crucial federal employees.
ACA grants
At the center of the shutdown fight are the ACA subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of this year. Democrats have called on Republicans to expand the subsidies, arguing that premium costs for ACA health insurance would rise if no action is taken.
Americans can choose your insurance plans for next year starting Saturday on the federal Affordable Care Act exchange website. A Analysis of KFF found that without the expansion of subsidies, Americans’ premium payments would rise by 114 percent.
Republicans are strongly committed to reopening the government before discussing ACA subsidies.
“The ObamaCare subsidy expiring at the end of the year is a serious problem. If you look at it objectively, you know it’s subsidizing bad policies. We’re throwing good money at a bad, broken system, and that’s why real reform is needed,” Speaker Johnson said at a news conference Monday.
projection
It says around 140 Head Start programs in 41 states and Puerto Rico, which serve more than 65,000 children, could be shut down if the shutdown continues beyond November 1st for a joint statement from more than 100 national, state and local organizations focused on childhood education and development.
“Without funding, many of these programs will be forced to close their doors, leaving children without care, teachers without pay, and parents without the ability to work,” the statement said.
Head Start programs are designed to serve low-income families and their children from birth to age five, with a focus on health and wellness services, family well-being and engagement, and early learning. according to its website.
Non-profit organizations
Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits, told The Hill in a statement that the shutdown has forced many nonprofits to suspend operations due to frozen federal reimbursements and grants.
The nonprofits include organizations that work to neat up wildfires in Colorado, house at-risk youth in Utah and aid with conservation work in Montana, Yentel said. Many unpaid federal workers have also turned to their local food banks, placing another financial strain on nonprofits.
“With the impending closure of SNAP and WIC on November 1, the situation will only get worse. Nonprofit food banks are already facing rising food costs and increased demand, including from federal employees and military families,” Yentel said. (*6*)
