What Happens Now That The Government Has Shut Down?

The U.S. government officially shut down at midnight after congressional lawmakers failed to reach an agreement on government funding. The conflict between Democratic and Republican legislators largely revolves around healthcare cuts and Obamacare subsidies, and now the blue and red parties are scrambling to blame each other for the shutdown, with Democrats noting that Republicans control both chambers of Congress as well as the White House, and Republicans lying about Democrats holding out because they want to give undocumented immigrants free healthcare.

But before we get into all of that, what exactly does a government shutdown mean? What happens now?

So, at 12 a.m. on Wednesday, the U.S. government officially began its new fiscal year, which means funding for all government operations from the previous year has expired. Here’s what that means for government employees, according to Al Jazeera:

When the government shuts down, agencies must “furlough” – suspend or discharge – their “non-excepted” – or non-essential – employees.

These furloughed employees receive no pay for the duration of the shutdown. Once the government resumes operations, most will receive back pay, thanks to a 2019 bill passed by Congress enshrining this into law.

That law makes no mention of contract staff, however, meaning cleaning staff and other contractors working in affected government departments and agencies will only be paid if their contracting firm has budgeted for this.

“Excepted” employees are defined as those “who protect life and property”. These essential workers continue in their jobs during the shutdown but won’t be paid until the shutdown ends.

So, a bunch of financially well-off politicians couldn’t make a deal, and, of course, it’s the everyday worker who gets the shaft first, with the only upside being that government functions that are critical to “protect life and property” are deemed essential and remain open, and the employees who provide those services still receive a paycheck. Of course, when we get into the nitty-gritty of what is considered essential and what isn’t (yes, we’re basically using 2020 pandemic language all over again), things just kind of remain concerning.

For example, CNN noted that the Department of Education — which we all know the Trump administration has an agenda to dismantle anyway — said it will furlough most of its staffers, but most Department of Homeland Security personnel will continue working. CNN also reported that federal agencies “released contingency plans detailing what will continue and how many employees will remain on the job.”

Earlier this week, the White House budget office told those same federal agencies to prepare plans for mass firings if the government shut down, which should give us little confidence that anyone in our government knows how long the shutdown will last.

“We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible by them, like cutting vast numbers of people and cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like,” President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday.

Speaking of Trump, our sitting president has responded to the shutdown by, once again, reminding us that what passes for presidential leadership has been severely — for lack of a more sophisticated term — ghettoized.

As we previously reported, on Monday, after last-ditch negotiations between congressional leaders failed to result in a shutdown being avoided, Trump responded by posting a racist and childish AI-generated video showing  House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries inexplicably wearing a sombrero and a digital mustache to resemble a stereotypical Mexican man, while a digitally altered depiction of Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer rambled about how “nobody likes Democrats anymore” because of “our woke, trans bulls***.” Well, on Tuesday, after it became clear that the government shutdown was happening whether we like it or not, Trump posted another AI video, because — oh, I don’t know — it’s either that or do something that shows competent leadership, which just ain’t Trump’s presidential wheelhouse.

From Newsweek:

The new video, just 14 seconds long, begins with genuine footage of Jeffries saying in a television interview: “It’s a disgusting video and we’re going to make clear bigotry will get you nowhere,” before a sombrero and mustache appear on him and a four-piece mariachi band—with Trump as all four members, also wearing sombreros—play behind him.

As the band plays, Jeffries continues with his genuine comment in the television interview, saying: “We are fighting to protect the health care of the American people in the face of an unprecedented Republican assault.”

As we previously reported, congressional Democrats’ main reason for rejecting Republicans’ spending bill, which had already passed the Republican-controlled House, is that Democrats were pushing for an extension to Affordable Care Act tax credits that have subsidized health insurance for millions of U.S. citizens and migrants who are currently in the country legally. Meanwhile, Republican leaders, including GOP lawmakers, Trump, Vice President JD Vance, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, have been spreading the MAGA gospel that the funding deal actually fell through because Democrats wanted to give free healthcare and tax subsidies to “illegals.”

In reality — a thing this administration waved bye-bye to the second Trump was sworn in on Jan. 20 — Democrats released a budget proposal that seeks to extend the ACA subsidies before they expire at the end of the year, and reverse Medicaid cuts in the tax cut and domestic policy law signed by the president in July. There’s not a single line in the language of the proposal that would allow for undocumented migrants to receive free healthcare, just as there is nothing in existing law that would allow for that.

From the New York Times:

Unauthorized immigrants are largely barred from federally funded health care programs. They cannot buy health care plans on government exchanges set up by the Affordable Care Act and therefore cannot receive any subsidies. They are also ineligible for Medicaid, Medicare and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The Democrats’ budget proposal does not make them eligible for these programs.

Senator Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, acknowledged this disconnect in a statement. “Undocumented immigrants are not eligible to enroll in federally funded health coverage under existing law or Democrats’ funding proposal — but millions of American citizens will see their health care premiums double next year if Republicans keep refusing to act,” she said.

So, why are Trump and his band of loyalists lying about what the Democrats want? Well, besides the fact that easily debunked lies and anti-immigrant fearmongering have pretty much been Trump’s political bread and butter, they seem to be doing their best to deflect from their own failings. I mean, if people aren’t focused on those evil, government-sabotaging Democrats, they might realize that the last time there was a government shutdown, it happened in 2018, during Trump’s first term, and it was the longest government shutdown in more than four decades.

In fact, as many people across social media have noted, in 2013, when President Barack Obama was in his second term, Trump was of the opinion that, while people will bicker about whether Democrats or Republicans are responsible for the government shutting down, the fault actually lies with — *check notes* — whoever is the president at the time.

Welp, as MAGA minions across America would have us believe — if Trump says it, it must be true.

SEE ALSO:

Lawmakers Meet Ahead Of Pending Government Shutdown

Trump Posts Racist AI Video Of Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries

The Government Shutdown Has Officially Happened: What Happens Now, And Who Is To Blame?  was originally published on newsone.com