Federal government shutdown would have wide ranging impacts
MIAMI - A lapse in funding for the federal government even for a few days could have devastating impacts.
If nothing is passed by the September 30th deadline, it will be happening as many struggle to keep up with rising costs.
"Shutting down the government is actually a very expensive exercise. Once we shut down the government, we have to furlough people, we have to hold back pay, and then we have to get operations started up again," said Lindsey Cormack.
Cormack is an associate professor in the College of Arts and Letters and director of the Diplomacy Lab at Stevens Institute of Technology.
"We've done this two times for an extended period in the last 10 years, and each time it ends up costing more to shut it down and reopen it," said Cormack.
If the shutdown occurs, hundreds of thousands of federal workers could be furloughed including military personnel, NASA employees, and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employees. We could also see national parks closed, reduced SNAP and WIC benefits, as well as slowed down disaster relief response.
Tenants who receive rental assistance may not see impacts in the short term if there is a shutdown, but in the long run, an expensive shutdown could affect the public housing authorities' ability to continue assistance.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives wants to see more spending cuts despite the risk of a shutdown.
"We're running a $2 trillion deficit. We're not fighting a war. We're not in a pandemic. That hurts everybody. That is crazy and our members recognize that. So we have members who want to do more and spending cuts makes total sense to me," said Florida Republican Senator Byron Donalds.
According to a White House official, President Biden is "broadly supportive" of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's efforts to come up with a short-term spending deal that could possibly avoid a shutdown.