The United States Government: Closed for Business

What this means, according to a USF politics major

The whispers of the government shutting down held true on Oct. 1 when Congress was not able to agree on a funding bill. For the past few years Congress has been resorting to “stopgap” budgets in order to keep the government funded (also known as “continuing resolutions”) do to their bill drafting capabilities.

This next stopgap ended on Monday Sept. 30, meaning that the government closed its doors and began sending home its civil workers home without pay. This doesn’t mean that the Federal government will cease all its services immediately. National and social security and air traffic will remain open and working, as well as emergency medical care and law enforcement. Many basic services will remain open in order for the country to function on the most fundamental levels. However, the Justice Department will be suspending civil cases temporarily, and immigration and national parks and museums are some of the first sections of the government that have shut down.

The government is estimated to lose about $300 million per day that it remains shut down, bringing the economy into a downward trend as well as negatively effecting the global economy.