General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhat's closed during the partial government shutdown?
Nine out of 15 federal departments are closed, as well as dozens of agencies. However, several funding bills were passed and signed, so about 75 percent of government services are unaffected by the shutdown.
More than 420,000 federal employees are working without pay, including agents from the FBI, ATF, DEA and CBP, as well as staff from the State Department, Coast Guard, IRS and Department of Homeland Security.
Another 380,000 workers have been furloughed from departments including NASA, the State Department, the National Park Service, the Forest Service, the Transportation Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the IRS.
<snip>
Volunteer Alexandra Degen cleans a restroom at Joshua Tree National Park on Jan. 4, 2019, in Joshua Tree National Park, Calif. Volunteers with "Friends of Joshua Tree National Park" have been cleaning bathrooms and trash at the park as the park is drastically understaffed during the partial government shutdown. Campgrounds and some roads have been closed at the park due to safety concerns.
The IRS has mostly stopped working (only 12 percent of its staff are working without pay), and those who are working are mostly focused on security and technology, not on taxpayers' refunds. The IRS is not issuing refunds, updating tax forms or answering phone help lines during the shutdown, according to its shutdown plans.
<snip>
Mail is still being delivered.
Social Security checks are still going out to recipients, and Medicare and Medicaid are unaffected by the partial shutdown.
Federal courts are still open and operating through January 11, by relying on court fee balances and funds that do not depend on a congressional appropriation. - CBS News
Many national parks have also closed, but several remain open during the shutdown, albeit without services. Sanitary conditions have rapidly deteriorated at many of the nation's parks, with restroom toilets overflowing and trash piling up.
cagefreesoylentgreen
(838 posts)Food safety inspectors from the Department of Agriculture are considered essential and are working without pay. Sooner or later theyll hit a breaking point too.
The MSM has been hyperfocused on the park service and transportation safety/security. I wonder if theyre afraid of starting a mass panic as people start realizing the nations food supply chain is in jeopardy.
ffr
(22,681 posts)While the elite republicans, in their shiny towers, laud a government in chaos or shutdown, we get it. Conservatives are terrible at governing. They're proof that government doesn't work if they try hard enough at it.
Crutchez_CuiBono
(7,725 posts)!. These govt agencies can 'survive' a long time wo funds bc....volunteering and patriotism....and
2. privatization. Just kinda feels like a warm up to same. Especially the parks.
dalton99a
(81,707 posts)Not the IRS! That means tRump's tax audit will be further delayed.