What Would and Wouldn't Shut Down

September 30, 2013

A "government shutdown" is a misnomer of gigantic proportion. In July, U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) released a Congressional Research Service study that makes clear “a ‘government shutdown’ does not cause all government functions to cease.”

Our military will remain vigilant, our ships at sea and our planes ready to fly, and our service members will be paid. According to a study by the Congressional Research Service published last week, "Historically, individuals responsible for supporting the nation’s global security activities, public safety efforts, and foreign relations pursuits have been excepted from furloughs that accompany a government shutdown.”

The federal judiciary will be funded through mid-October. Veterans and recipients of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will continue receiving their benefits. You'll still get your mail from the U.S. Postal Service.

There will be massive inconvenience to hundreds of thousands of civilian government employees who will be furloughed until a budget deal is reached. Mortgage loans will halt, although "the Office of Single Family Housing will 'endorse new loans under current multi-year appropriation authority in order to support the health and stability of the U.S. mortgage market'." Federal parks and zoos will close, but "Smithsonian and National Park employees responsible for protecting property and providing emergency care, including animal caretakers at the National Zoo, are exempt from the furlough." And TSA employees and air traffic controllers will remain on the job.

"National Institutes of Health employees would continue to treat current Clinical Center patients and provide animal care services, though new patients will be locked out of clinical research," and federal disaster assistance will remain fully available. More than 40 million Americans would continue to get food stamps unabated.

As to the IRS, why should it be no surprise that "all payments would be processed?"

Perhaps the most serious problem will be "A lack of appropriations (that) will severely limit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's ability to respond to outbreak investigations."

"The Food Safety and Inspection Service would continue all safety-related activities" and "the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration would continue inspections to the extent they're paid by user fees." However, the "inability to investigate alleged violations could hamper corrective action in the long term and could have an immediate impact on members of industry." The FDA "would limit its activities but continue to monitor recalls and conduct investigations."

Of perhaps particular note is that funding for the Patient’s Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) will continue. “It’s looking more and more like Tuesday will be a split-screen day … Obamacare will open for business.”

The above is not an exhaustive explanation, and it is not intended to suggest that limiting government services is trivial. However, if Congress and the President fail to strike a deal, the sky will not fall, Mt. Rushmore will not crumble, and our union will retain all 50 of its states.

Concern is justified. Panic isn’t.

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