Government funding expires when the clock strikes midnight and it becomes Oct. 1, which marks the start of the new fiscal year. If Congress doesn’t get it together in the next eight days, millions of Americans could feel the effects of a government shutdown directly in their pocketbooks. The White House issued a stark warning this week that a shutdown could threaten crucial federal programs and that hundreds of thousands of federal workers won’t receive a timely paycheck. Here’s what the looming government shutdown could mean for you.
Government employees
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Most government employees will be furloughed during a shutdown, which is another way of saying “not working.” Those in “critical services,” which include air traffic controllers, law enforcement, prison operations, border control agents, TSA, hazardous waste handlers and food inspectors, would keep working. The U.S. Postal Service will also continue operation if a shutdown happens. Employees, even those who were furloughed, receive backpay after the shutdown is over.
Travel
In the event of a shutdown, national parks, zoos, and museums will all be closed. If you’re waiting on a passport for international travel, you’ll likely be waiting a bit longer, so here’s hoping you sent in your application with ample time before your trip.
Airports will remain open, though some “non-essential” employees will be furloughed.
Social security
Social Security checks will still arrive, but new signees will need to wait to sign up for their benefits until employees are no longer furloughed.
Medicare will also continue operating, as will Medicaid. However, new applicants will see delays because there won’t be enough workers to process their paperwork.
Food stamps
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is not dependent on annual spending bills, so you will still receive those benefits if you’re already enrolled. However, new applicants will likely see delays in receiving them.
Unemployment insurance
Unemployment insurance benefits could be delayed or reduced because while they are funded by the states, they rely on administrative help from the federal government. States are required to keep paying them, technically, but they could run out of funds depending on how long the shutdown lasts. If that were to happen, they could then obtain Title XII advances from the federal government to continue paying them.
Homebuying
Homebuyers will be looking at even bigger headaches than they already are these days. Lenders need the IRS to confirm the buyer’s income, while the SSA confirms their identity. This means any hope of closings will be delayed, as well as lost bids and overall weaker offers.
Small businesses
Small business loan approvals will also be halted or slowed during a shutdown as both the IRS and Small Business Administration would close down (or be severely understaffed) and not able to process the requests.
Military
Military personnel are not subject to furlough in the same manner as other government employees, though other Department of Defense employees may be affected. The Department of Veteran Affairs would not be directly impacted by the shutdown because it receives appropriations a year in advance.
However, while critical medical services would still be fulfilled for active service members, elective procedures might not be. So while service members are less affected than other groups, they still could face some inconveniences and delays.
Investors
If the government temporarily shuts down, so will the Commerce and Labor Departments, meaning that investors waiting on their economic reports are out of luck. The stock market also gets a bit spooked when these things happen. These aren’t irreversible consequences, but they are very real consequences nonetheless.
This post was originally published in December 2017 and was updated to meet Lifehacker’s editorial standards amid another looming U.S. government shutdown in September 2023.